


Piece by Piece, Back Together

by SasuNarufan13



Series: Pieces of the Puzzle [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alpha!Sasuke, Alternate Universe, Birth, Breastfeeding, Brief explanation of male Omega biology, Bullying, Character Death, Good Orochimaru, Kushina and Minato live, Leading up to sexual assault but it doesn't actually occur, M/M, Medical Examination, Mpreg, Name Calling, Naruto's pov, Omega!Naruto, Rimming, Slash, Some angst, Start of a panic attack, Time Skips, a/b/o dynamics, birthday fic, but not that explicit, mature content, mentions of past character deaths, some drama, some violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-24
Updated: 2019-05-24
Packaged: 2019-05-28 00:48:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 142,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15037019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SasuNarufan13/pseuds/SasuNarufan13
Summary: There's just something about the silent, dark haired boy in his new class that attracts Naruto's attention.





	1. Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> Author's note: This story is dedicated to Meehalla, because it's her birthday today. Happy birthday, honey!
> 
> This story isn't going to have that many chapters and I'm not sure how long each chapter will be, but I hope you'll enjoy it! 
> 
> Let me know if I've missed a warning! New warnings will be added with each chapter.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
> 
> Dedicated to: Meehalla
> 
> I hope you'll like it!

_1 Meeting_

He noticed him immediately.

As sensei was introducing him to the class, his eyes wandered around, flitting from one bored face to another blank one. The class appeared to have more boys than girls in it, but the smell of their perfume – with their natural scent mingled through it – was strong enough to make him wrinkle his nose. He hoped he wouldn't be seated next to one of those perfume doused girls; he didn't fancy getting a headache and a fucked up sense of smell.

Right when he offered the customary bow, he caught dark hair flashing in the corner of his eye and he whipped his head in that direction, curiosity spiking up.

The dark hair belonged to a guy who looked to have stepped right out of a modelling magazine. Holy gods, was that guy even real? His cheekbones looked sharp enough to cut something; his lips were a pale pink with his lower one being a tad fuller. His nose was straight; his skin the perfect pale colour everyone would envy him for. His hair was black and spiky at the back with long bangs caressing his cheeks. His eyes were black and –

Disturbingly flat when the guy flickered his gaze towards him.

As if he wasn't really seeing him, but looking right through him. That realisation was highly unsettling and Naruto rose up again, swallowing.

"Why don't you go sit next to Inuzuka-san, Uzumaki-san?" Iruka-sensei suggested smiling, nodding at a brown haired guy in the second row, next to the window. The dude's teeth were weirdly sharp when he grinned at the blond.

And right behind Inuzuka was Mister Blank Gaze.

"Sure," Naruto said lightly and made his way over, passing some girls who immediately started whispering.

"I'm Kiba," the brown haired boy introduced himself when Naruto sat down in the seat next to him. He was a Beta judging by his scent.

"Naruto, but you already know that," Naruto chuckled, retrieving his pencase and a notebook from his bag.

"If you want, I can show you around the school during the break? So that you won't get lost," Kiba offered smiling.

"That'd be great, thanks," Naruto smiled gratefully. The school appeared like a maze, to be honest, and he could use all the guiding he could get if he didn't want to get lost.

He could do without making a fool out of himself by arriving late to class.

* * *

He had been attending this school for a week now when he breached a topic he had been curious about since his first day.

"So, eh, who's that guy who's sitting behind you?" he asked curiously, pushing the last remaining cherry tomato in his bento box back and forth with his chopsticks.

He knew the names of the majority of his classmates now, as they had gone up to him one by one to introduce themselves, but the dark haired boy – the model with the flat eyes – hadn't introduced himself at all. Hell, Naruto hadn't heard him speak once throughout the entire week. So far he hadn't raised his hand to answer a question nor had he been called upon, so he had remained utterly silent.

Kiba blinked, slurping from his juice brick. "Uchiha?" he questioned confused.

"Eh, I suppose, yeah. That guy who sits behind you with the dark eyes and the dark hair," Naruto clarified, stopping himself on time before he could continue with "You know, the handsome one who looks like he could be modelling as a part time gig."

Kiba snorted; his nose wrinkling in disdain. "His name is Uchiha Sasuke, but don't even bother trying to interact with that guy."

"Why not? He like a bully or something?" Naruto frowned, closing his bento box and dropping it in his bag. Uchiha didn't look like the type, but then again looks could be deceiving.

At his question the Beta boy actually barked out a laugh; Naruto had discovered earlier in the week that Kiba and his dog Akamaru shared quite the few traits.

"God no," he grinned, shaking his head as if the idea on its own was ridiculous. "Not at all, because bullying would mean actually displaying some interaction with other people and the guy's allergic to that. He keeps to himself, doesn't want to talk to anyone. Honestly, I don't know much about the guy." He shrugged. "He joined our class during our first year in secondary school, but he came from another town I think. He's super smart, because he's constantly ranking first in every exam and test, but his social skills are like below zero. Don't waste your time on him; he's not worth the effort."

"Hm." Well, Uchiha didn't really look like he had an outgoing personality, but Naruto hadn't expected him to be that bad that he avoided all interaction with everyone else.

It made him wonder whether something had happened to the guy for him to turn out like that. Or maybe he's been like that since the beginning, he reminded himself. Not everyone loved being social like he and his mum. There was nothing wrong with being introverted.

But did he really talk to nobody? That sounded so lonely to be honest.

Everyone needed at least someone, right?

* * *

Fidgeting, he remained outside his parents' bedroom in the hallway, waiting for his mum to get changed. He had been wanting to ask her something all evening, but he hadn't figured out just how exactly he would word his question without it sounding weird.

"Naruto?" Mum looked at him curiously when she opened the door and found him lingering in front of it. She cocked her head to the right; her long, red hair, tied back in a ponytail, slipping over her shoulder. "You need something?"

"Eh, I was just wondering about something …" Naruto trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck as he wondered, a tad embarrassed, how he should ask this. Was there even a point to it? Kiba had been quite clear that he should expect nothing, and some of the other guys he had spoken to, like Shikamaru and Shino, had stated the same thing.

Perhaps it would be for the best if he left him alone, but … For some reason he couldn't.

"Yeah? About what?" Mum prompted him, pushing her hair back over her shoulder. Downstairs dad was watching the evening news report; the voices of the reporters muffled through the closed door.

"How do you start talking to someone who doesn't … really look that social?" he asked awkwardly, clasping his hands together behind his back.

She blinked, taken aback by the unexpected question. "Well, do they look approachable?" she asked, tapping her right index finger against her chin.

He thought of the disturbingly flat stare, how Uchiha kept to himself even during breaks; how there seemed to be this invisible circle around him which kept everyone away from him. His utterly blank his face remained, no matter what happened.

Sure, Alpha – and there was no mistaking the fact that Uchiha was an Alpha; his scent was quite overwhelming even with the distance he kept between him and other people – tended to have such a strong aura that most people thought twice about approaching him, but …

With Uchiha it was different. Other Alpha still engaged with the rest of the population, interacting with them without any problems, but Uchiha's aura practically screamed " _Stay the fuck away from me."_

Not exactly conductive to inviting small talk.

"Eh, no, not really," he admitted after a short pause, grimacing slightly.

She quirked an eyebrow, looking torn between being amused and concerned. "Well, you could try talking to them about your classes first – we're talking about one of your classmates, right?" At her son's affirmative nod, she continued, "Try to start a conversation about something simple at first and then if they seem receptive enough, you can start talking about something else. Just build it up, you know?"

"Yeah, I got it, thanks ma," Naruto grinned, scratching the bridge of his nose. He could try that; it seemed simple enough. Talking about their classes would be quite boring, but at least it was something in common and the subject seemed safe enough to try out.

No harm in trying, right?

"But, Naruto," she said, suddenly sounding stern as she crossed her arms and tapped her foot on the floor, "if they really don't want to talk to you, you have to leave them alone, okay? Some people are just loners in nature and it wouldn't be right for you to keep pushing them."

"I know that, ma," he complained, scowling at her. "I'm not trying to annoy him; I just want to get to know him!"

"All right then," she smiled and ruffled his hair. "Let me know whether it works out between the two of you, okay?"

"Will do," he grinned, even though inwardly he wasn't so sure whether he would succeed. But well, he could always try.

* * *

The thing was: he didn't know what, exactly, he could say to Uchiha. Talking about classes was great and all that, but he couldn't come up with anything that didn't sound lame.

" _So what do you think has Gai-sensei worked up every damn gym class? Nobody can be that cheerful and damn energetic all the time, right? You think he's trying to kill us with all those laps?"_

" _Is it just me or does Mitarashi-sensei scare the crap out of you as well?"_

" _I feel like Morino-sensei would be better suited to run the army than history class."_

Nothing he could come up with seemed like the ideal ice breaker. They all seemed too much like small talk and Uchiha didn't look like he was fond of small talk at all.

Or you know, just talking in general.

Still, Naruto was determined to come up with something that would allow him the perfect excuse to try and start talking with Uchiha. He just had some trouble coming up with the right subject.

It was funny in a frustrating sort of way, actually. Naruto had never had much trouble approaching people and start talking to them. More than once when he had been younger, mum had to drag him away from the playground after he had found yet another child to play with. In supermarkets he would start rambling to complete strangers until his parents steered him away. Put him in a group, any group, and he would have no trouble fitting in. He liked meeting new people, getting to know them, making friends with them and until now he had never had any issues with that.

Yet one boy, one silent boy in his new class, managed to leave him utterly tongue tied and without a clue as to how to approach him.

It would make him laugh if it wasn't so frustrating.

Through a stroke of luck, however, the perfect opportunity to approach Uchiha presented itself during Morino's history class a couple of weeks after Naruto had started attending this school.

As the stack of papers detailing the instructions for the project passed from one student to the other, Morino placed his hands on his desk and leant forwards.

"This project is to be done in groups of two and you'll be pulling your own weight. If I hear from your partner that you haven't been doing your fair share of the work, I can promise you we will have a talk about that," he stated; the prominent scars on his face making his comment sound even more ominous. "Bar being ill, I will accept no excuses for tardiness. On the date of your project you will be ready, otherwise marks will be deducted. You'll get a sufficient amount of time to prepare your subject, so I won't tolerate any whining that you were short on time, understood?"

Everyone nodded quickly. Naruto had discovered early on that Morino was one of those teachers who could quell even the loudest loudmouth of the class simply by staring at them. The guy had an intimidating aura, especially for a Beta, and he didn't take shit from anybody.

Morino nodded. "I'll give you the rest of the hour to find a partner and brainstorm which subject you want to tackle for your project."

The easiest way to find a partner for Naruto would be to ask Kiba. He had been hanging out with the other boy a lot during their breaks and had even visited his family's kennel last weekend. They got along and the guy wasn't that bad in history either. Preparing the project would him would be easy.

But Naruto never liked doing things the easy way. Unwittingly Morino had handed him the perfect excuse on a platter. If the guy didn't scare the shit out of him so much, he'd thank him. As it was, he snatched up his instruction sheet and jumped up, making a beeline for the dark haired boy seated in the furthest corner of the class before Kiba could even turn around.

His heartbeat quickened as he made his way through the room and his belly was squirming with nerves, but he was determined not to let this chance slip through his fingers. He wouldn't get a more perfect excuse than this one, he was sure, so he needed to make use of it before someone else was quicker than him.

Not that he needed to be worried about someone else snatching up Uchiha as their partner before him. Everyone was walking around, calling out to their friends to partner up, but they all – by unspoken agreement it seemed – gave Uchiha a wide berth.

"You want to be my partner for this project?" he asked, louder than he had intended, coming to a stop in front of Uchiha's desk. His fingers were clenched around his sheet of paper and he tried to suppress his fidgeting with it to a minimum. Why was he even nervous? The worst thing Uchiha could say was that he didn't want to partner up. While that would be disappointing, it wouldn't exactly be the end of the world.

Still, quelling the nerves was easier said than done.

At first it seemed Uchiha hadn't heard him. He kept reading the paper in front of him, not giving any sign that he was aware of the blond Omega waiting in front of his desk. Right when Naruto started wondering whether he should ask again, Uchiha raised his head slowly and dark eyes locked onto big, blue ones.

For some reason Naruto's heart stuttered a bit when faced with those scrutinizing eyes and he was pretty sure the tips of his ears were glowing red. Even seated Uchiha came across as quite intimidating.

"What," Uchiha said flatly; his face utterly blank as he stared at the blond in front of him.

His voice was surprisingly deep and Naruto swallowed, offering a weak smile. "Eh, I was wondering whether you wanted to work on this project with me?"

The noise around them tempered slowly, toning down in hushed conversations and hisses as their classmates realised just who Naruto was talking to. Their eyes seemed to pierce in the back of his head and he hunched his shoulders somewhat, suddenly feeling like he was committing some faux pas.

Uchiha narrowed his eyes a tad. After a beat of silence – one which went on for too long in Naruto's opinion – he inclined his head. "Sure."

And that was – actually unexpected. Blue eyes widened as their owner stood frozen in shock. Sure he had figured this was the best excuse to start talking with Uchiha, but to be honest, a part of him hadn't expected the Alpha to actually agree to becoming his partner. He had been prepared to get snubbed off, based on the portrayal his classmates gave of the dark haired boy. He hadn't prepared himself for how to react when the other boy actually said yes.

_Shit._

"You're going to sit down or not?" Uchiha asked and the blank mask broke slightly, irritation bleeding through as scrutinizing turned into scowling.

Naruto had never sat down so quickly before.

* * *

Partnering with Uchiha for the project was … an interesting experience.

The guy barely talked whereas Naruto couldn't stop blabbering about anything that popped up in his mind. The words streamed out of his mouth like a waterfall and he had to remind himself more than once to just shut up before he would annoy Uchiha too much. He didn't want to get on Uchiha's nerves, but it was difficult to stop talking when he finally had the chance to interact with the quiet Alpha.

Uchiha for his part appeared disinterested most of the time. He let Naruto chatter on and on until a certain point at which he would scowl at the blond and tell him to shut up before he stuffed their history textbook in his throat. He didn't talk about himself; he only spoke when either uttering a threat to make Naruto shut up or when he wanted to discuss something regarding their assignment. He barely showed any emotions; when people stopped to gape at them in the library, he didn't even look up, as if he was completely unaware of how shocked they were.

Despite his disposition towards silence and his closed off demeanour, Naruto managed to discover small things about the Alpha by paying attention to him during their meetings and during the classes they shared. When Kiba had told him Uchiha was very smart, he hadn't been joking. The guy was seriously incredibly smart. Naruto was by no means stupid, but he still struggled with some classes while Uchiha seemed to fly through the questions and tests. More than once he had to correct Naruto when the blond made a stupid mistake on his part of the project.

He didn't brag about his marks, though. And despite his occasional colourful threat, he didn't make Naruto feel stupid either, even when he corrected his mistakes.

He wasn't prone to bragging at all, actually. It was a common stereotype that Alpha liked to brag about their talents and it was true that most Alpha fell right into that stereotype. Not Uchiha, though. Teachers' praise about his marks didn't faze him and being congratulated on his judo skills didn't even make him blink. He wasn't rude about it, per se, but it was more like he couldn't be bothered by the praise.

Another thing Naruto had discovered was that Uchiha was very punctual and that he didn't appreciate tardiness. At all. He had been quite clear about that the first time Naruto had accidentally arrived three minutes late to their second meeting. In his defence, it wasn't his fault Yamato-sensei had kept him after class to discuss his mathematics grade! Still, after that he hadn't dared to be late again.

Uchiha was right handed, but Naruto had also caught him writing with his left hand without his handwriting suffering underneath the change, so he appeared to be cross dominant, which honestly was quite impressive. If Naruto tried writing with his non dominant hand, chances were he most likely wouldn't even be able to read what he had written.

Uchiha wasn't a morning person. He needed coffee to wake up properly and anyone bothering him before he had sufficiently woken up – not that that many people tried to talk to him – would be treated to an honest to god vicious snarl. Being subjected to that particular sound when he hadn't realised yet it was dangerous to talk to Uchiha when he was still waking up, had left Naruto quaking in his proverbial boots. After that particular experience, he had vowed not to engage Uchiha in a conversation until the latter had had his coffee.

He liked being alive, after all.

Through observation he now knew something about Uchiha, but he still didn't really know him and Naruto was at a loss of what he would do after the project was finished. Now he still had the excuse of the history assignment to talk with Uchiha, but once they had presented that one, there was no reason for Uchiha to keep interacting with him.

"Just ask him whether he'd like to hang out with you after school," was dad's nonchalant solution when Naruto had breached the topic one evening.

As if it was really that simple. Uchiha looked so … there was no real word to describe how he looked, except that he definitely didn't come across as a guy who liked to casually hang out with somebody.

That just wasn't Uchiha. The Alpha seemed to reside on a whole other plane of existence, embarrassing as it was for Naruto to think that. He was untouchable. Unreachable.

Kiba and the other guys weren't much help. They declared him insane for wanting to befriend Uchiha, questioned why he wanted so badly to get to know Uchiha. Honestly, Naruto couldn't really say. There was just something about the dark eyed boy which drew his attention and made him want to be around him.

Asking the girls for advice was completely out of the question. Most of them nursed a crush on the Alpha despite never having really interacted with him and they were annoyed that Naruto was the one who got to work with Uchiha. It confused Naruto, because if they wanted to work with Uchiha on a project, why had they never bothered approaching him? Especially given that they had known Uchiha for far longer than Naruto had.

Girls could be so confusing at times.

So with no real help forthcoming from anyone, Naruto was at a complete loss. He didn't want to relinquish his time with Uchiha, even if he still didn't know much about the Alpha, but without the buffer of a school assignment, he didn't have much hope of keeping his interaction with Uchiha going.

Since when had it become so goddamn difficult just to hang out with someone?

* * *

"You got time to go to the mall with us?" Kiba questioned, pulling on his shirt again; heedless of the waterdrops still clinging to the spiky ends of his hair.

They had just finished their volleyball training and were leaving the showers one by one. Always having been rather energetic, Naruto had been torn between the various sports the school offered until he had decided to join the volleyball team. Knowing at least one person at the team had made making the decision easier.

He had a lot of fun during the trainings; it was a great way for him to get rid of his energy and the coach had told him that if he kept it up like this, he might be able to play in their next match.

"Nah, sorry, I can't," he apologised, slipping into his shoes. "I'm meeting Uchiha in the library; we're almost done with our project."

"Suit yourself," Kiba shrugged, stuffing his sweaty sport outfit in his bag. "Hey, Shino, you're nearly done or what?"

Naruto didn't catch Shino's answer as he walked out of the locker room, making his way slowly towards the library. Out of sight he wiped a hand across his forehead and grimaced. Even if he hadn't agreed to meet Uchiha to finish their project, he wasn't so certain whether he would have accepted Kiba's invitation. He had been feeling off the whole day already and to be honest he couldn't wait until he was home, so that he could drop down on his bed and just lay there.

There had been a couple of times during the training when the cramps in his stomach had become so bad, he had been tempted to ask the coach whether he could leave earlier. He hadn't in the end, because he was stubborn and didn't want to miss a training, but he definitely was paying for that stubbornness with even more cramps. He was feeling more flushed than usual as well; something he had attributed to the rigorous training at first, but even a shower hadn't cooled him down.

God, he really hoped he wouldn't get sick now. Plucking his shirt collar away from his throat, he rubbed his arm over his forehead again. Hopefully the library would be somewhat cool, because he was starting to burn up.

There was a men's bathroom sharing the same hallway as the library and he entered that one first. Cranking the tap, he cupped his hands underneath it, watching them get filled with cold water before splashing that in his face to cool off at least a little bit. The cold water felt refreshing against his heated skin and so good that he splashed his face a couple of more times for extra measure.

Spluttering a bit when water dripped over his lips, he gripped the sink and stared at himself in the mirror, taking stock of how he looked like. Despite the cold water, his cheeks were still flushed a bright red; the colour seeping down to his neck and underneath his shirt. He was warm, too warm, and his clothes itched unbearably against his skin. He clenched his eyes shut and hunched when another wave of cramps assaulted him and he gasped for air, curling into himself in the hopes that that would reduce the pain. Fuck, was there some kind of bug going around?

Once the pain had subsided to a dull throb once more, he slowly straightened out, hyper aware of the fact that he couldn't stay here for too long anymore. Not unless he wanted to piss off Uchiha again.

He took a deep breath once he stood upright again and –

_Oh fuck no._

Something thin and wet trickled down his legs and he froze, staring horrified at his mirror image. It wasn't a bug, he wasn't becoming sick – far from it. Instead he was in _heat_.

A heat which shouldn't have arrived for another three days. He knew, because he had checked his calendar yesterday and he was always on time. Except now he wasn't.

Now his heat had come earlier than expected in one of the most unluckiest places he could think of.

_Fuck. Fuck._ _**Fuck!** _

Omega experienced a heat every month which lasted for three to four days. It basically made them horny as hell, because the heats were designed to encourage procreation. Sure, they could get pregnant any time if they weren't careful, but during their heats they were more fertile and the chances of getting knocked up were significantly heightened during that time.

Since he had got his first heat when he was thirteen years old, Naruto had locked himself into his room for those three days, taking medicine that took off the edge of his heat and didn't leave him an incoherent mess. With that medicine the heat didn't hurt so badly and it left him with enough coherence that he could do other things than curl up in his bed and beg for someone to relieve the fire coursing through his body.

Being always punctual with his heat had taught him when the best time was to take his medicine so that his heat would be controlled from the start.

His heat has never arrived earlier than the scheduled date. Except of course now his body decided to screw him over.

Hands trembling, he hastily opened all the pockets in his bag, searching for his medicine in the futile hope that he still carried some with him from the previous month. Of course he didn't. Because his heat had been scheduled for this weekend, he hadn't thought of taking his medicine with him until Friday at the latest.

It was Wednesday now. So he had no medicine and he was in heat while at school. Splendid.

"Fuck," he whispered, closing his eyes for a moment as he dropped his bag on the floor. Rubbing his head, he opened his eyes and stared at the dull white tiles.

All right, so it sucked majorly that his heat had arrived sooner. Like fuck you, body, we had a good thing going here. But it wasn't the end of the world. He just needed to call his mum so that she could come pick him up and he'd send a text to Uchiha explaining why he wouldn't show up. He'd take his medicine once he was home and then he would just wait it out like he always did.

Piece of cake. No need to panic.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he retrieved his phone from his bag and selected his mum's number. As the phone started ringing, he threw his bag over his shoulder and shuffled his way out of the bathroom; ignoring how his trousers were starting to stick to his skin.

"Naruto? Did Uchiha-san cancel?" Mum asked surprised when she picked up.

Licking his lips, he shook his head even though she couldn't see him. "Ah no, eh, I – can you come pick me up now? My – my heat started," he muttered; his voice growing softer near the end as a spike of embarrassment flared up.

"I'm on my way. Be careful!" she said immediately. "If someone bothers you, kick them in their balls. I'll be there soon!"

"Okay, thanks." He breathed out slowly as he lowered his phone and dropped it into his bag. He didn't think he would be bothered, considering most people had already left the school and the hallway was pretty deserted. He didn't think it would be smart to wait in the street. It was probably for the best if he stayed here and he could leave once mum was close to showing up.

He'd just have to wait a bit longer and then he'd be home.

"Stupid heat; stupid biology," he grumbled, glaring down at his bag as he sank down against the wall. Eugh, he could feel the slick dampening his underwear and trousers; that was so disgusting. The first thing he'd do once he got home – after taking his medicine – was strip off his clothes and jump into the shower again.

His mum would need to call the school tomorrow to let them know he wouldn't be attending classes for the rest of the week and he and Uchiha would need to reschedule their meeting as well. It was a good thing they still had two weeks left before they would need to present their project; a delay of a couple of days wouldn't be that horrible.

So absorbed he was in his thoughts, he didn't take notice of the approaching footsteps until it was too late.

"Well, look what we have here," a deep voice drawled and his head whipped around; blue eyes widening when they took in the group of three guys standing a couple of feet away.

The guy who had spoken was grey haired and his dark eyes were glinting as they ranked across Naruto's body. On his left there was a big, pudgy guy with orange hair and eyes who grinned and licked his lips. The guy on his right had his dark hair pulled up in a spiky ponytail, resembling the way Shikamaru tied his hair. He was smirking, his head cocked to the right.

"Hey, Jiroubou, Kidoumaru, looks like someone is in a bit of a pinch," the grey haired guy grinned, taking a step closer. He sniffed audibly; his eyes flashing when he caught the scent of pheromones. "Yeah, a bit of a big pinch I'd say," he murmured; his eyes gleaming eerily.

"Maybe we should help him out, hm, Sakon?" Spiky haired guy suggested with a sneer. "It's like our duty, don't you think so?"

"As chivalrous as always, Kidoumaru," Sakon smirked. "Why don't you come with us, Blondie? We'll be happy to give you a hand." He leered.

Naruto scrambled up. "Touch me and I'll kick your arse," he snapped, bracing himself against the wall. He prayed his cramps wouldn't act up again before he could get away. He should have stayed in the bathroom, fuck!

"Oh, someone's feisty," Jiroubou crowed. "Did nobody ever teach you, you should show your senpai some respect?"

"Apparently nobody ever taught you when to shut your mouth, considering your size!" Naruto threw back.

That wiped the smug look off Jiroubou's face instantly and he snarled, "Why don't you use that big mouth of yours for something else, you bitch?"

They grabbed for him all at once. He punched Kidoumaru's face and slammed his elbow right into that fat gut of Jiroubou. When Sakon sneered and went to push him down, Naruto kicked him straight into his stomach, forcing the man to skid back. He used his bag to slam it against the fat guy's head, but saw stars when a sharp elbow caught his temple.

Pain exploded in his head when his body was slammed into the wall and everything started spinning around. A punch in his stomach had him crying out and he curled up when another wave of cramps started, making him even dizzier than before.

_God, not now._

Through the haze of heat, pain, heat, he felt hands grappling with his belt and he lashed out with his leg. "Get the fuck away from me!"

Another hand reached out, grabbing his leg tightly, as one of the three settled on top of him, but then a furious roar suddenly rebounded through the hallway and the next moment the weight on top of him was gone. Gasping, he shoved himself backwards against the wall and watched frozen how a dark haired blur was kicking the shit out of his three assailants.

When the last one of the little group, Sakon, slumped down, his saviour turned around. Uchiha was standing in the middle between him and the three others; his chest heaving up and down visibly, his fists clenched on either side of his waist. Some blood dotted his lips and the Alpha reached up almost absentmindedly, brushing away the dark red liquid.

"You okay?" he asked; his soft tone a sharp contrast to the snarls which had escaped him during his fight with the other three.

"Yeah," Naruto released a shuddering breath, drawing a hand across his face. He started shivering softly as realisation finally sank in that he had got close to being _raped_. It made bile rise up in his throat and he swallowed, feeling like he would throw up any second now.

He started when a shadow was cast over and he watched quietly how Uchiha knelt down in front of him, still keeping some distance between them. "Do you need me to call someone?"

Any other moment and Naruto would be flabbergasted at hearing the concern in Uchiha's voice, but now he could only numbly shake his head. "No, my – my mum, she's coming to pick me up. I called her because of …" he trailed off, feeling himself reddening as he awkwardly waved his hand over his body. He didn't think Uchiha needed more explanation, considering he must positively reek of pheromones by now.

If he was affected by the increased scent, Uchiha didn't show it. Instead he nodded. "I can wait with you outside if you want to. I don't think these three will wake up any time soon, but you shouldn't be alone right now."

"Yeah, that'd – that'd be great, thanks," Naruto said hollow.

"You need some help getting up?"

"No, I've got it."

He didn't. As soon as he stood up, his knees buckled, his stomach aching with the blow he had sustained and he sank back down with a gasp. Before he could fall on his arse, a strong arm wound around his waist and a hand threw his arm around a neck.

"This all right?" Uchiha murmured, looking questioningly at the blond.

He had never been this close to the Alpha and the blond couldn't help but lean into him, inhaling the rich, woodsy scent. It curled up in his nostrils, made him lightheaded and the fire in the pit of his belly grew brighter, his underwear damper, as his body registered the near presence of a strong Alpha.

A strong Alpha who had defeated three guys at once, who had proven he could protect, who smelt nice and safe, who would be able to sire strong …

Naruto shook his head sharply, mortified at the thoughts whirling around in his mind. God, what the hell was wrong with him? "Yeah, this is all right," he said roughly and resolved to only breathe through his mouth, because clearly Uchiha's strong scent was messing with his mind.

True to his word, Uchiha stayed with him until mum arrived. He was also gracious enough not to remark on how closely Naruto was pressed up against him nor did he comment on that one mortifying moment in which the Omega had nuzzled his neck.

He fucking hated being an Omega sometimes.

Mum arrived with screeching tires and she spared a brief moment to thank Uchiha for staying with him before bundling her son into her car and driving away.

When Naruto glanced out of the window, Uchiha was staring right back at him.

* * *

When Monday arrived, he slumped into his chair as the rest of his classmates entered the classroom. They had homeroom now and he hoped to use this hour to work out the last mathematics problem of which the solution had eluded him so far.

Not only had his heat come unexpectedly earlier, but it had also lasted a day longer, so he still wasn't fully rested. He was also praying that Uchiha wouldn't kill him for having been so touchy feely last week. His cheeks still burned when he thought about what had happened last Wednesday.

"Hey, did you hear?" Kiba plopped down in the chair next to Naruto. "Last week, some guys …"

A shadow fell across their desk and Kiba abruptly shut up when they looked up and saw Uchiha standing in front of them.

"You feeling all right?" he asked; his dark eyes flitting quickly across Naruto's face.

"Eh yeah, just some bruises, but that's all," Naruto replied, thrown off guard, and cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his mind. "Eh, look, about last Wednesday …"

"Those three cowards are suspended," Uchiha said abruptly. "They'll probably be expelled, considering the headmaster wasn't too happy with what they tried to do."

"Oh, eh, that's great to hear," Naruto said surprised. "Those bastards had it coming. You didn't get into trouble, did you?"

"Why would I get into trouble?" Uchiha raised an eyebrow and nodded. "I'm glad you're feeling better. If you're feeling up to it, we can finish our assignment after school today."

"Yeah, sure, that works for me," Naruto said, a tad dazed, as Kiba was making odd choking noises next to him.

"All right," Uchiha nodded and started making his way to his own desk, completely oblivious as always to the shocked stares of their classmates.

Naruto blamed his shock at being approached by Uchiha first, for what he blurted out next, "Thank you! I'm glad you were there to help me!"

Uchiha paused and looked back. Other people were too busy gossiping about what had made Uchiha talk to someone out of his own volition to notice it, but Naruto did.

He saw the corners of Uchiha's mouth tilt up in a very rare, barely there smile before he turned around again and went to sit at his own desk.

Ignoring Kiba's hissed "What the actual fuck did just happen, man?", Naruto sank down in his chair with a grin, feeling warmth spreading out through his chest.

Maybe becoming Uchiha's friend wouldn't be that impossible after all.


	2. Confiding Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: First of all, many, many apologies for taking so long with this second chapter. I wanted to finish it earlier, but the heat wave is still going on strong and it's seriously sapping my energy :/ I've got a few other fics ongoing too as well as a personal project I've been working on for a while now - and that's not mentioning the work in the household - but I'm sincerely sorry for taking so long with this.
> 
> That being said: I unfortunately don't have an updating schedule for this one. I will try my best to have the chapters out quickly and you can be assured that this story won't be put on hiatus or dropped. I'm going to finish this, you can be sure of that. It just might take a little longer, because of circumstances I've mentioned above. I hope you can understand this; it's not my intention to keep you all waiting, but I don't want to deliver half arsed chapters either.
> 
> Now that that's out of the way - HOLY SHIT, YOU GUYS! More than 200 kudos for the first chapter alone?! You blew my mind with this amount! I never expected this story to gain that much attention, so thank you so much for all those kudos! I hope I won't disappoint with the rest of the story *sweatdrops*
> 
> Again, thank you so much for your comments and your kudos! I really appreciate them!
> 
> Warnings: some time jumps; nothing else in particular
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
> 
> I hope you'll like it! And yes, I did cut this chapter into two parts, because I wanted to give you something after this long wait!

_2 Confiding Part 1_

He waited until their classmates had filed out of the room after their last class of the day was finished, waving off Kiba when the boy looked at him curiously. Kiba shrugged and walked out of the classroom, calling out to Shikamaru.

Uchiha looked up with an unreadable look on his face when Naruto stopped in front of his desk. He had already put everything away in his bag, but the blond knew that the Alpha waited until he was the last one to leave the room. He wasn't entirely certain why, but he hoped to find out the reason for that one day.

"You need something?" Uchiha asked; his voice flat. His eyes weren't as blank as they had been at the start, though; there was a glimmer of curiosity in them.

"I was wondering …" Naruto hesitated for a moment before pushing through, "It's the start of our weekend and to celebrate the end of our project, would you like watching a movie with me or so?"

"A movie," Uchiha repeated tonelessly, drawing his eyebrows together slightly.

"Yeah, or we could do something else. You just seem the type to prefer watching movies over going to the mall or so," Naruto said, shrugging weakly. Truthfully he couldn't exactly picture Uchiha sitting at the movies with a bucket of popcorn either, but Uchiha visiting the mall out of his own accord seemed even less likely.

"Where would we watch the movie? At your place?" the Alpha questioned, cocking his head to the left.

"Eh." Naruto stared at him blankly, thrown off kilter for the moment. He had actually thought about going to the local cinema and picking a movie there, but now that he thought about it, watching a movie there wouldn't exactly help with his plan.

He wanted to get to know Uchiha better, become actual friends with him, but in order to do that they needed to talk at least a little bit. A cinema wasn't exactly the best place for that. He had quite the collection of movies at home, though, and mum had gone to the stores yesterday, so there was bound to be some snacks in the cupboards.

"Yeah, at my place, if you don't mind," he answered rushed, not wanting to annoy Uchiha by taking too long to answer.

Uchiha blinked before nodding slowly. "Sure, sounds good to me," he murmured and rose up from his chair, swinging his bag over his shoulder. "Let's go then."

Perking up – and inwardly doing a dance in victory – the blond boy hastily followed him outside, snatching his own bag from the floor. There were still some students left in the corridors; some lingering to talk to their friends while others still had club meetings. They stared at Uchiha as he walked past them; their eyes growing even bigger when they noticed Naruto clearly tagging along with the Alpha. Soon they started whispering with each other; their gazes following the pair and Naruto felt his cheeks burn when he caught some of the comments carelessly thrown around between friends.

" _Isn't that the new kid? What's he doing with Uchiha?"_

" _It has to be a coincidence, right? No way Uchiha would ever go for a guy like him."_

" _Seems like all Omega flock to that guy, huh, no matter whether they're a chick or a dude."_

" _Gross! You really think they're fucking?"_

" _Nah, can't be. Uchiha doesn't look at anybody."_

Scowling at the floor, Naruto tightened his grip around the strap of his bag. Just because he was an Omega didn't mean he couldn't be friends with an Alpha! Sure, yeah, at this point he didn't think they could be called friends yet, but that didn't matter! The point was that he wasn't after Uchiha just to bone him, all because he happened to be an Omega. What did they know about him anyway? What did they even know about Uchiha? He hadn't spoken with those people before and he was willing to bet they never had managed to talk to Uchiha either.

Yet here they were, gossiping and assuming things about them, despite the fact that none of what he and Uchiha did with each other was any of their business.

Presumptuous arseholes, the lot of them.

He shook his head and took a deep breath to calm down; there was no point in getting worked up about what those idiots were saying. He wouldn't let them ruin the rest of his day with their thoughtless comments; especially not when Uchiha had actually agreed to spend time with him outside of the classroom. Who cared what they thought anyway? _He_ was still the one leaving with Uchiha, not them.

Feeling better, he stepped outside, letting the doors fall shut behind him. Expecting Uchiha to follow him to the bus stop – mum's car was at the shop and she wouldn't be able to pick him up today – he was therefore quite surprised when the Alpha turned towards the carpark instead, striding towards it.

For a moment he stood in front of the school entrance and gaped, before he hurried after the dark haired man. Maybe Uchiha was brought to school as well by car? It wasn't as Naruto could be the only one who got dropped off by car, instead of using public transport.

They halted in front of a sleek, black car, but when Naruto peeked inside, he saw nobody waiting for Uchiha. Strange. They weren't that late, so it couldn't be that whoever drove Uchiha home – his mother or father? – had grown tired of waiting and had stepped outside for a bit. A quick glance around showed nobody waiting around for them.

"Get in," Uchiha ordered calmly.

"Don't we need to wait for - " Naruto's mouth dropped open when he saw Sasuke stepping into the car – _on the driver's side_.

_Wait, what?_

He jumped nearly three feet in the air when the window on his side lowered with a buzzing sound and Uchiha leant forwards; a look of annoyance plastered on his face as he asked curtly, "You're getting in or what?"

Hastily Naruto ripped open the door and practically fell inside his seat. He closed the door and dropped his bag between his legs before fumbling with the seatbelt. All the while his mind was screaming at him about the fact that _Uchiha was the one driving this car._

How the hell had he managed to get a driver's license? He wasn't eighteen yet. Naruto was certain of that considering how smart he was; there was no way he had ever had to repeat a year.

"You can drive?" he blurted out stumped.

Uchiha stared at him as if he was an idiot – which fair enough, given the fact that he was sitting behind the wheel, it was obvious that he could drive. But give him a break: who the hell expected a seventeen year old to have a driver's license already?

"I received an exception," was all Uchiha offered as answer before starting the car. "Don't worry, I'm a good driver. Which way do I need to go?"

Still reeling from the fact that Uchiha was already driving a car – and not just with a learner's permit either, considering Naruto was his passenger – the blond started giving directions to his house.

Uchiha turned out to be an excellent driver, navigating smoothly through the streets and it wasn't long before they were parking down the street where Naruto lived. It was a quiet neighbourhood, the sort where everyone knew everyone who lived there, and Naruto waved at old lady Hana, who was puttering around in her front garden, watering her flowers. She waved back and her wrinkly face grew a few extra wrinkles as she studied Uchiha, clearly interested in who the mysterious boy was.

She'd probably badger him about it the next time she caught him alone. He would be annoyed by that thought, but really she was a sweet lady, even if a tad too curious, and she made amazing chocolate chip cookies.

"I'm home," Naruto mumbled habitually, even if at the moment neither of his parents were home. He kicked off his shoes in favour of putting on his slippers and retrieved another pair, ones they kept for guests, from the shoe closet, offering them to Uchiha. The Alpha was a lot neater in putting away his shoes than Naruto was and after placing his bag against the wall, he followed Naruto deeper into the house.

"The films are on the shelves underneath the television," Naruto informed him, pointing at the living room. "Take your pick; I'll grab some snacks. What do you like to drink?"

"Soda or water is fine," Uchiha murmured and disappeared into the living room.

Trying to contain his bubble of excitement at having Uchiha in his home was rather difficult and he was buzzing with restless energy as he raided the cupboard where mum stored the snacks. He grabbed some bags of crisps, some candy bars and a sleeve of chocolate cookies, figuring that at least one of those items would appeal to the dark haired boy. A full bottle of soda was snatched from the fridge and two glasses were retrieved from the cupboard.

Somehow he managed to bring everything to the living room without dropping a single thing – which was honestly a miracle, but he wasn't about to complain – and he put the soda and the glasses on the table first, before opening his arms and letting the snacks tumble down.

"You found a movie you'd like to watch?" he asked, but when he looked up, he didn't see Uchiha near the television as he had expected.

Instead the Alpha was looking at the pictures on the wall, a few feet away from the television. He was studying them intently as if they were something important enough to memorise.

"Please tell me mum didn't hang up any embarrassing pictures of me," Naruto griped, walking over to the other boy. The pictures hadn't been hanging there when he left for school this morning, so mum must have finally got around to doing that today.

To his great relief, she had not in fact hung up any embarrassing pictures and he silently thanked her for her restraint. The last thing he needed was for Uchiha to see the picture of when he had been five years old and had got into mum's make-up, slathering his mouth full with bright red lipstick until he had resembled a clown. He might also have tried out her black pumps – and had discovered they were utterly impossible to walk around with – but that was neither here nor there.

The photos she had chosen to hang up were mostly ones they had taken during family outings with them visiting amusement parks, the beach, or a picnic in a clearing of the forest near their first home. His parents' wedding picture was right in the middle with another picture of them both in their work uniforms above it.

When he followed Uchiha's gaze, he found him staring at a picture of mum holding his eight year old self in her lap. They were both grinning widely, having just celebrated mum's birthday. There were still traces of the strawberry cake visible on their mouths if one looked closely enough.

"Your parents are with the police?" Uchiha asked neutral, now scanning the picture in which both Naruto's parents were proudly wearing their uniforms. That one had been taken two years before Naruto was born if he remembered correctly.

"Yeah, well, my dad is. My mum's thinking of going back to the force, but she hasn't decided yet," Naruto answered and when Uchiha graced him with a blank look, he elaborated, "She was with the police right up until I was born and then she decided to stay home to take care of me. Said she didn't want to miss anything of me growing up. So she's a housewife now, but she's thinking of going back to work in the force eventually."

"Your mother is beautiful," Uchiha murmured.

Naruto grinned, clasping his hands together behind his head. "She is, isn't she?" he said proudly. He had always thought he had the prettiest mum of everyone; he wished he could have got her beautiful red hair. Mum said she'd always been teased about the colour – though that teasing had tended to stop quite fast after she had shown them just how little she thought of their opinion; yeah, his mum was not someone you could screw around with – and that was something Naruto had never understood. Her red hair was incredibly beautiful and everyone who thought otherwise could fuck off.

"You look like her," Uchiha commented offhandedly.

That comment made Naruto feel flustered for some reason and bashfully he mumbled, "Eh, thanks." Clearing his throat, he took a couple of steps back and jerked his thumb at the collection of films on the shelves. "So which one do you want to watch?"

* * *

They ended up watching a film about a couple of samurai, set in the 1860s. Naruto had feared it would lean to much to the history side for him to enjoy it – dad was the history buff, not him.

To his surprise, though, he ended up being as engaged in the film as Uchiha was to the point that he yelled in surprise and nearly jumped three feet in the air – thereby almost falling off the couch – when mum suddenly appeared in the living room.

"Hello there," she smiled, clearly surprised at the presence of an Alpha aside from dad in their house. "I don't think we've met before."

Uchiha rose up from the couch and bowed. "Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki-san. It's a pleasure to meet you," he introduced himself, even going as far as offering her a very faint smile.

Well, it was more like a twitch of the corners of his mouth, but that was more than the Alpha tended to offer others, so.

"Oh my, so polite. You could learn a thing or two from Uchiha-kun, Naruto," Mum grinned, winking at her son, who whined in dismay. "I'm Uzumaki Kushina. Sorry I interrupted your film, but I got curious when I heard the dialogue, because I know Naruto tends to prefer other genres."

"Mum," Naruto groaned, rubbing his forehead. She had to know Uchiha was the guy he had been trying to befriend for weeks now and for some reason, she decided now was the time to make fun of him.

Granted, if the roles had been reversed, he'd do the same thing, but still …

"You don't like this film?" Uchiha was staring at him with such an intensity that a nervous chuckle escaped Naruto before he could hold it back.

"Ah no, I do like it. I just never watched it before, because I thought it would be boring," he explained, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Then why do you have it in your collection?" Uchiha asked blankly.

"My dad's a history buff and likes this genre," Naruto replied and shrugged.

Mum clapped her hands together; her violet eyes gleaming. "Well, I'll leave you two to the rest of the film then. Let me know if you need more snacks or drinks." She practically flounced out of the living room and Naruto couldn't help but stare suspiciously at her retreat.

The gleam in her eyes had been way too excited and he just knew he'd be fielding off her questions later on once Uchiha was gone. Why had he thought it was such a good idea to bring Uchiha home with him?

"You want to watch the rest of the film?" he asked brightly, forcing himself to ignore the cheerful humming he could hear emitting from the kitchen.

Yeah, she was biding her time, he just knew it.

"Sure." Uchiha shrugged and sat back down.

Naruto settled back down too and they watched the rest of the film in companionable silence.

* * *

"So, that was Uchiha Sasuke, hm?"

"Don't even start, ma."

"What? I'm just glad I can put a face to the name, that's all!" A teasing nudge in his side. "You didn't do bad at all, you know. Quite a looker, he is!"

"Ma! It's not like that!"

"Of course it isn't." A smirk. "I believe you."

"Ma!"

* * *

From then on they started spending more time with each other.

Naruto had feared at first he'd need to come up with a decent excuse every time to spend some time with the dark haired Alpha, but to his surprise – and which caused him to be immensely pleased – Uchiha started seeking him out on his own volition too.

They usually spent time at Naruto's place, Uchiha bringing him home with his car. Dad had nearly had a fit when he discovered Uchiha was already driving a car, but after a couple of times of seeing him drive, he seemed to begrudgingly trust him to bring his only son safely home.

Naruto was pretty sure, though, that dad had ordered his colleagues to keep an eye out on Uchiha's car, just in case he did go out of line. Naruto would scold him for that if he had any real evidence that the older blond had put out that request.

At least he wasn't eyeing Uchiha suspiciously anymore; that was a plus.

* * *

"All right, I'll see you on Monday!" Kiba grinned, slapping Naruto's shoulder as they parted at the school gates.

"Yep, see you then," Naruto smiled and turned left, making his way to the bus stop.

The beginning of July had announced itself with a brightly shining sun and high temperatures and he tried to stick to the shade as much as possible. Even so he broke out in a sweat, making him feel tacky and sticky as he wiped his forehead and neck. He'd like to go home immediately and take a cold shower, but mum's birthday was next week and he needed to buy her a gift today.

Thanks to his volleyball training he was out of school later than usual and he hoped he'd be able to catch the next bus on time. The store he wanted to go to would close in an hour, so he had to make sure he'd be there on time. It would suck if he had to return next week.

"You going home?"

"Holy shit! Warn a guy! You're like a freaking cat!" Naruto cursed, whirling around to face the Alpha.

Uchiha for his part just raised an eyebrow and smirked slightly. "Maybe you should pay more attention to your surroundings," he suggested.

"I pay enough attention, dickhead. You're just freakishly silent," Naruto snapped. They had been spending time together for almost two months now and he had got past his initial hesitation, dropping the careful act. Even at his chattiest Uchiha didn't seem that bothered by him, so Naruto had figured there was no need to restrain himself anymore; it didn't seem like Uchiha would let himself get scared off.

He did wish the guy would make a bit more noise when approaching him from behind, though. This wasn't the first time he had almost scared the shit out of the Omega by suddenly appearing behind him.

"Whatever you say," Uchiha dismissed his complaint. He wasn't carrying his bag anymore, so he had to have dropped that off in his car already. "So you going home?"

"No, not yet. I'm going to a store first to buy a birthday gift for my mum," Naruto replied, adjusting the strap of his bag so that it wouldn't dig that much in his shoulder.

"I can drive you if you want," Uchiha offered offhandedly.

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows. "You sure? It's already quite late; don't they expect you home?"

To be truthful, he didn't know how many family members Sasuke had exactly. He hadn't mentioned his parents so far nor any siblings he might have. Kiba nor anyone else of their class knew anything about Uchiha's family life either, despite having spent more time in class with him than Naruto had done so far.

Naruto had the impression that Uchiha's family was kind of a sensitive subject, so he hadn't dared to approach it yet, figuring he'd let the Alpha tell him about them in his own time.

Uchiha shrugged, beckoning him to follow him. "Not really. I don't have a real curfew," he answered vaguely.

"Well, okay, then. Thanks, I appreciate it," Naruto smiled and turned his back to the bus stop, falling into pace with the dark haired boy. If he had to choose between a cool car with AC or a bus where they were stuffed inside like sardines … Yeah, the choice was quickly made.

As they made their way to Uchiha's car, they caught the attention of some other stragglers. After all these weeks they stilled turned wide eyed with shock as they watched Naruto walk besides Uchiha, but the whispers had more or less stopped.

Naruto thought that had something to do with the fact that Uchiha just ignored everyone talking to him – except for Naruto – and well, he just tended to laugh off their incredulous comments. It wasn't his fault they had never attempted to just talk to Uchiha, so they shouldn't badger him about this now. They had had several opportunities so far, but apparently they had never made use of those.

Their loss.

"So, looking forward to the summer break?" Naruto asked casually as they made their way through the streets.

Uchiha grunted and the blond chose to interpret that as a positive answer. "Yeah, it's going to be great to not have to stay in class for a while with this heat. You got any plans?"

"None in particular," Uchiha muttered as they entered the busy town centre.

"My parents and I are probably going to the beach for a day or so if dad can get some time off," Naruto said, squinting out of the window. The harsh glare of the sun reflected on every shiny surface made it difficult to look outside without hurting his eyes.

"Sounds like fun," Uchiha commented idly.

"Hm, until one of us turns as red as a lobster," Naruto chuckled. The unfortunate victim of a sunburn usually turned out to be his mum, even though she slathered even more sunscreen on her skin than Naruto or dad did. Dad tended to tease her that her skin just wanted to match her hair.

That usually earnt him a slap around his head.

Uchiha miraculously managed to find a parking spot with plenty of shade and once he had shut down the motor, they stepped out, joining the other people on the footway.

"I won't take long," Naruto reassured Uchiha when he spotted the store and led the other boy to it.

"Take your time. I'm not really in a hurry," Uchiha mumbled, narrowing his eyes at the rather garnish display of bright pink teddy bears set in a pyramid form when they walked into the shop.

With the weather being this hot, the shop owner hadn't even bothered with keeping the doors closed, having chosen instead to keep them open all the time – probably in a vain attempt to catch a breeze. It was rather warm inside the building too, not as bad as outside, but definitely not a temperature that invited people to keep lingering in the store.

Leaving Uchiha behind at a shelf with notebooks varying in size, the blond made his way deeper into the store, praying they still had the item in stock that he wanted to buy for mum. He had checked their website last night and there it had stated they still carried the item, but you never knew. With his luck, it might even be sold out by now.

It wasn't, though, and he grinned widely when he spotted it.

'It' was a stuffed fox, dyed a deep red with black paws and a white snout. It had nine tails instead of just one, representing the mischievous fox spirit from the mythology; the tails were a deep red colour as well, tapering off into white tips. Seeing as both he and mum loved foxes in every form, he figured this would make a great birthday present for her.

On his way to the cash register, he spotted something else and before he could think twice about it, he snatched it off the shelf and paid for both items.

He met Uchiha at the entrance. "Uchiha-san, I've got something for you!" He dipped his hand into the bag and retrieved the item he had bought on a whim.

It was an actual tomato plushie with little arms and legs and a big smiley face at what was supposed to be the stuffed toy's front. Having shared some lunches with Uchiha before, he had taken notice of how fond the Alpha was of tomatoes, even eating Naruto's share if the Omega not so inconspicuously dumped his tomato slices into Uchiha's bento box.

Waving it in the air, he grinned, "Figured you might like a plushie of your favourite food!"

For the first time since he knew the guy, Uchiha actually looked stunned as he stared at the stuffed tomato toy. Slowly he reached out and took it from Naruto, holding it in both hands. "Thanks," he said and actually sounded genuine.

Naruto released a relieved sigh. When he had spotted the smiling tomato, it had seemed like a funny present for Uchiha and he was glad Uchiha wasn't angry about it; this gift could have backfired spectacularly after all.

"No problem," he smiled.

* * *

They were almost at Naruto's house – only two more streets to go – when Uchiha suddenly murmured, "You can just call me Sasuke, by the way."

"Hm?" Naruto looked away from the window and glanced at the other boy.

"You can call me Sasuke," he repeated and threw the blond a quick glance before focusing back on the road. "It's not like we're strangers after all."

For a brief moment Naruto stared at him surprised. He hadn't really thought about it, but yeah, he had still been calling him Uchiha, both in his mind and aloud, despite having got closer to the boy the past weeks. To be fair, he hadn't wanted to be so presumptuous as to use the Alpha's first name without really knowing where they were friends or not.

That the dark haired boy was the first one to breach that distance between them and pull down that barrier made something in Naruto glow with warmth and he smiled giddily. "Okay, you can call me Naruto."

* * *

Being on first name basis appeared to have made something in Sasuke click.

It was the first day of summer break and Naruto had planned on languishing the morning away in his bed, enjoying the opportunity to sleep in after weeks of having to get up early in order to get to school on time.

That was the plan, at least, but the loud ringing of the doorbell put a stop to that plan quickly.

As the echoes of the bell died out, he contemplated just staying in bed. Mum was home, anyway, so she could answer the door.

Which apparently she had done, because not even a minute later, she called from downstairs, "Naruto! Sasuke-kun is here! Get your butt out of your bed and get down here!"

What the hell? Rolling over, he snatched his phone from the nightstand and stared at it. No new messages that he might have missed while he had been sleeping. He selected the message thread between him and Sasuke, but the latest message there didn't indicate at all that the Alpha would be showing up today. He couldn't remember Sasuke saying anything about it either when he had dropped him off last week.

Stumbling out of bedroom, clad only in his shorts, he went downstairs, nearly slipping down the second to last step when he put his foot down too far over the edge. Mum shook her head when she saw him and sighed.

"You couldn't have put on a shirt at least?" she asked disapprovingly.

"It's warm," he remarked snidely. Besides, Sasuke had the same equipment as him, so it wasn't like he would be seeing anything different than what he had.

Well, all right, so Sasuke was definitely more muscled than him, sure, but the essentials were still the same.

Sasuke was waiting in front of the closed door, dressing in a grey T-shirt and gym shorts for some reason. His eyes ran quickly up and down over Naruto's body and the Omega cleared his throat, scratching the back of his head. Shit, his hair must look like a bird's nest.

"Yo, Sasuke, did we plan to meet up today?" he asked curiously, hoping he hadn't somehow managed to forget their plans. He didn't think so, because he tended to have a good memory when it came to his friends, but why else would Sasuke be here?

"I thought you might want to join me for my martial arts class," Sasuke said calmly. He cocked his head to the right. "You mentioned you were interested in that, no?"

"Eh, yeah, I did," Naruto replied, a bit taken aback. He had mentioned that when he had discovered that Sasuke regularly attended a martial arts class, but he hadn't thought the older boy had remembered that particular remark. That conversation had taken place weeks before, after all.

"So, you interested?" Dark eyes looked at him expectantly.

Aware of mum's interested look piercing in the back of his head, Naruto nodded. "Sure, let me go change quickly and eat something and then we can go."

* * *

There were already ten other people present in the dojo when they stepped inside. They were all practicing a different type of move on their opponent and Naruto watched fascinated how one girl – a tiny brunette; a Beta – effortlessly threw her much larger opponent over her shoulder, not even breaking a sweat as she did so.

"Uchiha, you brought someone with you this time?"

The low, monotone voice had Naruto ripping his attention away from the girl who was grinning at the guy, tugging him back on his feet.

The guy approaching them had flaming red hair with a few wispy locks brushing his forehead. His eyes were an intense shade of green, made even more intimidating by the dark circles underneath them; a bad sleeper? The kanji for love was tattooed in blood red above his left eye.

He was around Naruto's height, making him a bit smaller than Sasuke, but he was obviously ripped, given how his shirt clung to his chest. He was an Alpha – his scent a curious mixture of grass, earth and coffee – and despite his smaller statue than most people present in the dojo, his aura screamed ' _Don't fuck with me!_ '.

Frankly he was quite intimidating and Naruto swallowed nervously.

"Naruto's my friend," Sasuke introduced him, waving at the blond. "Naruto, this is Gaara, he runs this place."

"How old are you?" Naruto blurted out before he could stop himself. He cringed a bit as soon as the words left his mouth, but seriously, the guy looked as old as they were!

A slow blink of green eyes. "Twenty-one," Gaara answered flatly. "Been running this place for three years now, but I've been working here since I was sixteen and been training here since I was eight."

"That's quite the long history you have with this place," Naruto squeaked. Gaara narrowed his eyes slightly, studying him more intently now. That did nothing to calm Naruto's nerves.

Sasuke snorted, apparently amused by the blond's predicament, the stupid bastard, and said casually, "Naruto's interested in martial arts. I figured you could show him some techniques."

It wasn't a request, nor really a demand, and while Naruto stood there a bit dazed, Gaara seemed to consider him in another light now. The red haired Alpha assessed him with critical eyes and Naruto found himself automatically straightening up underneath the scrutiny.

"Omega, right?"

The question took him off guard and he frowned. "Yeah, what of it? You don't work with Omega?" he asked, sharper than he had intended.

Gaara quirked an eyebrow. "Relax, we don't tolerate discrimination here," he said calmly and Naruto pursed his lips, a bit embarrassed at having leapt to conclusions so quickly.

"Just asking to be sure. There are some techniques that will work better for you, that's all," Gaara continued and jerked his head at the tatami mats. "You ready for your first lesson?"

Changing a glance at Sasuke – who seemed to give him an encouraging nod, eh, okay – Naruto slowly nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready."

He had already got some defence lessons when he was younger – courtesy of being a child of two police officers – but knowing more techniques could never hurt.

Hell, his parents might actually be ecstatic once they heard about his lessons and it would probably endear Sasuke to them even more – if that was even still possible.

* * *

After his first lesson – which he enjoyed a lot more than he thought he would; Gaara was an excellent teacher – Naruto joined Sasuke three times a week at the dojo, getting taught a new technique each week.

Normally it took students a lot longer than one week to really master one technique, but Naruto seemed to have a talent for it, Gaara had mentioned approvingly during one of their lessons.

Naruto would lie if he said he hadn't enjoyed hearing that compliment.

Attending these lessons actually taught him something new about Sasuke as well, despite the fact that he and the man hadn't sparred together so far – Sasuke being a lot more advanced and all that.

"You know, I never thought I'd see the day Uchiha would bring a friend over," Gaara mentioned offhandedly during one of their breaks.

There was a peculiar inflection on the word ' _friend_ ' and it made Naruto stop drinking his water, eyeing the other man with a slight frown. "What do you mean?"

Gaara shrugged, throwing his half empty bottle from one hand to the other. His gaze was pensive when he stared at Sasuke, who had just thrown his opponent to the ground with a loud ' _smack_ '. "I've known him for several years now and never once has he brought anyone here or even mentioned someone else. I'm pretty certain he used to not have any friends actually."

His gaze switched to Naruto and it turned appraising. "You must be special to him," he told him frankly and while Naruto spluttered, turning red for reasons he didn't really understand, Gaara rose up, setting his bottle on a chair against the wall. "You up for another round?"

Naruto shook his head and dumped his bottle into his bag. "Yeah sure, let's go."

If he landed on his back a couple more times than usual now, he blamed it entirely on Gaara and the weird conversation they had shared.

_Special to Sasuke, huh?_

* * *

After saying a quick goodbye to Sasuke, he rushed to the front door as the rain beat down around him. The beginning of September had started with a heavy downpour and he was cursing vehemently as his keys kept slipping through his wet grasp.

Finally he got the door unlocked and hurried inside. The noise of a car departing had him shaking his head wearily. He had told Sasuke so many times already that he didn't need to wait until Naruto was inside the house to leave, but the man was a stubborn git and refused to listen to him.

"Naruto?"

"Yeah, I'm home!"

Dad appeared in the doorway of the living room; home at one of his rare days off. "Welcome home," he smiled; the corners of his eyes crinkling slightly and he crossed his arms. "How was school?"

"Boring as always," Naruto answered flippantly, peeling off his wet jacket and hanging it on the peg with a grimace. Being dropped off by Sasuke meant he wasn't as wet as he would have been if he had to walk home from the bus, but the short walk between the car and the door had been enough to soak his jacket completely.

"Sasuke-kun already left?"

"Yeah, he had something scheduled for tonight." Naruto looked up with a grin as he tugged off his shoes. "Why, you miss him?" He snickered, dropping his right shoe on the floor before doing the same with the left.

The weird look on dad's face had him pausing and he frowned. "Dad?"

"Just wondering," Dad started and hesitated visibly before pushing through, "Is there any reason in particular why Sasuke-kun asked me yesterday whether I knew how to handle a gun?"

_Eh, what?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN2: I know I said you would find out why Sasuke behaves the way he does in this chapter, but it turned out a lot longer than I expected it to be and because I wanted to update it today, I ended the chapter here. I hope you can forgive me ^^;
> 
> Next chapter will definitely offer an explanation as to why Sasuke is how he is!
> 
> I hope this chapter met your expectations! Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
> 
> I hope to see you all back in the next chapter!
> 
> Cuddles
> 
> Melissa


	3. Confiding Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: Hey, look! This time it didn't take me more than a month to finish the chapter :D 
> 
> Thank you so much for your comments and kudos! I seriously can't believe we already passed 300 kudos for this story, holy shit!
> 
> Warnings: Mentions of past character death; time skips; short implied mature scene. If I'm missing a warning, let me know!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
> 
> I hope you'll like it!

_3 Confiding Part 2_

It took him quite a while before he could convince his dad that no, Sasuke wasn't a criminal; no, he wasn't part of the yakuza; _no, dad, he doesn't have any tattoos._

Dad eventually let him to go to his room after Naruto had suggested that maybe Sasuke was just interesting in joining the police and was curious about handling weapons. That explanation seemed to have mollified the older blond a bit and he had allowed his son to escape the interrogation.

The truth was: Naruto had no clue whatsoever what could have driven Sasuke to ask such an odd question. Why would he need to know whether Naruto's father was able to work with a gun or not? He hadn't seemed interested in Minato's work before, so why ask that question out of the blue? He had never shown any interest in guns or the police in general.

Then again, Sasuke was still rather closed off.

But that was normal, right? They were still getting to know each other, hadn't been friends for really that long yet. Maybe Sasuke _was_ interested in joining the police, who knew?

He might not know the real reason by Sasuke's odd question, but he was certain the Alpha wasn't some kind of criminal or part of a gang. He was well aware the looks could be deceiving, but he didn't get any bad vibes of Sasuke at all. He still didn't know anything about his family, no, but that didn't matter.

Sasuke wasn't a criminal, that he was certain of.

If Naruto would ask him why he had posed such a question, he was sure Sasuke would explain. Really, his dad was getting worried about nothing. Both him and mum had met Sasuke various times already – if there was something off about the Alpha, wouldn't they have noticed it by now? Especially mum prided herself on being able to read people.

Nodding resolutely, he dropped down on his chair and pulled out his homework. He'd ask Sasuke about it when he saw the other boy this weekend for their martial arts class.

* * *

Actually asking Sasuke about it turned out to be – a lot more difficult than he had actually expected.

He didn't know why he suddenly had trouble forming the question. He just had to ask "Hey, Sasuke, why did you ask my dad whether he knows how to handle a gun?" and that was it. Sasuke would explain his reason behind the admittedly strange question and that would be that.

Except whenever he opened his mouth, the words seemed to get stuck in his throat. Something in him held him back from actually questioning the dark haired boy. It was frustrating, because he couldn't really pinpoint the reason why he was so hesitant to pose the question. They were friends now, so it wouldn't be weird at all to want to know why Sasuke had asked about his dad's skills with a gun.

Yet something kept him from asking the Alpha about it and as the days passed by, Naruto decided to just forget about it. Dad didn't look that weirded out anymore when Sasuke came over and really, what did it matter?

It wasn't like Naruto himself never asked weird questions.

* * *

When September neared its end, Naruto noticed Sasuke was acting off. It was Friday evening, the twentieth of September, and all day long the other boy had been distracted by something, giving curt replies or delayed answers whenever Naruto said something to him. It worried the blond boy immensely.

Sure, Sasuke had never been a big talker; even with being friends now – did he even dare to say they were best friends? – Naruto was still the one who talked the most. But in all these months that he had known the Alpha so far, Sasuke had never acted this weird. Aside from the curt responses and the general air of being distracted, Sasuke looked tense, as if he was anticipating a fight at any moment. When a girl had accidentally brushed against his arm earlier in school, Naruto swore he had heard Sasuke actually _growl_ at her.

Sasuke still barely interacted with anyone who wasn't Naruto, so for him to actually show being annoyed at someone … Yeah, something was up.

Sitting cross legged in the middle of his bed, Naruto watched Sasuke thoughtfully. The other boy was seated at his desk, working at his history homework. Well, he _should_ be working on his homework, but he seemed to stare at it more than he actually wrote on the paper. Whatever was bothering him, it was bad enough that it even kept him from his homework – something Naruto hadn't thought was possible, given how diligent Sasuke usually was about finishing his assignments on time.

Wetting his lips, Naruto hesitated for another moment before he decided enough was enough. "You know, if something's on your mind – you know you can talk to me about it, right?" he said slowly, fiddling with the right corner of the page he'd been working on for a while. "I mean, we're friends, so you know – you can tell me anything."

Sasuke lifted his head up, but didn't look at him. After a short, tense moment that seemed to last much longer, he finally nodded slowly. Releasing the breath he had been holding without being aware of doing so, Naruto returned to his own homework, determined to at least solve this particular question before giving up for tonight. He still had around a week to finish it anyway, so there wasn't any real hurry.

Time slipped away as they each worked on their assignment with Naruto's parents talking softly downstairs as background noise. At some point it started raining. It began as a light drizzle, but it didn't take long before the rain grew fierce enough to audibly drum against the window and the roof, leaving teeny tiny rivers behind on the glass.

Gnawing at his pen, Naruto furrowed his eyebrows as he tried to figure out which date he was supposed to fill in. Morino was a stickler for details, so it wasn't like he could just jot down a date and be done with it. So absorbed he was in scanning the paragraph in his history handbook that he started when a weight dipped his mattress all of a sudden.

Heart skipping a beat, his head shot up and he stared at Sasuke surprised. God, he kept forgetting just how freakishly silent the Alpha could move around if he wanted to. Pushing himself closer to the wall to create more space for the other boy, he studied him bemused. Sasuke never chose to sit down on the bed out of his own free will. He would sit down if Naruto literally dragged him on it, but otherwise he seemed to prefer to sit on the chair when they were in Naruto's room. Sometimes Naruto wondered whether his insistence on using the chair had to do with Kushina's teasing remark that " _The bedsheets better be in the same position as you left them this morning, Naruto!_ "

His mum really delighted in embarrassing the hell out of him sometimes.

If Naruto hadn't been alarmed before by Sasuke's behaviour, he definitely was now. Sasuke _never_ sat down voluntarily on his bed. For him to have done so now …

"Sasuke?"

"You haven't asked about my family."

The question came out of the blue, catching the blond off guard and he could only stare stupidly at Sasuke for a moment. He didn't know what exactly he had expected to hear, but a remark on his silence regarding Sasuke's family was definitely not on the list.

Rubbing the back of his neck, he answered awkwardly, "Well, I just thought you'd tell me about them when you wanted to. I – got the impression that you don't really like talking about them?"

He'd be lying if he said he had never wondered about Sasuke's family before. The Alpha hadn't mentioned them at all so far and as Naruto hadn't visited Sasuke at his own house yet, he hadn't had the opportunity to meet them there either. He had started suspecting that perhaps Sasuke had a bad relationship with his family and that was why he preferred staying at Naruto's place.

You couldn't just bluntly ask someone if they were on bad terms with their family, though, so Naruto hadn't attempted to breach that particular subject, even though he was almost dying with curiosity to know more about the dark haired boy. What were his parents like? What kind of jobs did they have? Did Sasuke have brothers or sisters or both and how many of them? Were they younger or older than them?

So many questions he could ask, but so far Sasuke had never mentioned his father, mother or any sibling.

Until now that was.

"I … want to tell you about them," Sasuke said and he sounded so off, so wrong, that Naruto stilled and pressed his lips together for a moment.

"You don't have to if you don't want to," he said cautiously, not wanting his friend to push himself when talking about his family was obviously the last thing he wanted to do right now.

Sasuke shook his head, crossing his legs. "No, I need to."

"Okay, I'm listening," Naruto said, feeling strangely nervous. He gathered his papers, his handbook and his pencase and pushed them to his pillow, freeing up the space between them. Shuffling backwards until his back hit the wall, he patted the bed next to him.

Sasuke accepted the silent invitation and sat a bit closer to him. He didn't look enthusiastic at all to talk about his family and that didn't set Naruto at ease exactly.

"I lived in another village until I was twelve," Sasuke started; his gaze trained at the desk instead of the Omega next to him. "It's a three hours drive from here. My family was … fairly well off. My father was the head of a company and my mother was a housewife. Itachi-niisan was already being taught the tricks of the trade so to speak so that he could take over the company once he was old enough."

Sasuke paused; downstairs it had grown quiet too so for a moment the rain hitting the window and the shingles on the roof seemed exceptionally loud.

"My family was rather well known in the village we lived in. Nii-san was very popular at school and my parents did a lot of charity. Mother always used to say that seeing as we were so blessed, the least we should do is give something back to the less fortunate."

"Your mother sounds very kind," Naruto murmured.

"Hm, she was always there for me and Itachi. She was an amazing mother." Dark eyes grew distant as if the Alpha was reliving memories.

Wrapping his arms around his knees, Naruto couldn't help but focus on Sasuke's repetitive use of the past tense when talking about his family. Why was that? From the couple of things he had said so far, both his parents and his older brother sounded amazing. Had they had a falling out?

"Sasuke … What happened?"

Slowly Sasuke turned around to face him and when black eyes locked onto blue ones, a shiver ran down Naruto's spine at the sight of utter blankness that greeted him. It was as if he was catapulted straight back to their very first day when he had glanced at the dark haired boy and the latter had just stared straight through him, not really seeing him at all.

The emptiness in those eyes scared him.

"They were killed."

Naruto's heart stopped.

"On the twentieth of September, four men broke into our home, wanting to steal everything that was of value." His voice bore no emotion and he sat completely motionless, still staring at the blond as if he was just reciting a story he'd heard and not horror he had experienced _himself_.

"They didn't count on alerting my parents, but they did. While father and mother went down to confront them, nii-san came to my room and told me to hide and keep still," he continued monotonously. "I had to stay hidden in my closet and I wasn't allowed to come out until he told me it was safe. I didn't want to – we're both Alpha while my mother was an Omega and I felt it was my duty to protect her at the very least. But Itachi insisted that I had to stay safe while he would help our parents and – I didn't want to disobey him. I never disobeyed him before and Itachi always knew what to do, how to fix things. I trusted him."

Dark eyes shifted away.

"So I hid in the closet and nii-san went downstairs to help our parents. There was a lot of yelling and things falling on the ground. I wanted to go downstairs, to bring mother to safety even if I couldn't really fight yet, but I had promised nii-san I'd stay put."

Naruto's breathing seemed extraordinarily loud in comparison to Sasuke's. As Sasuke continued, he had no trouble picturing a younger looking Sasuke, terrified out of his wits while hiding in a closet, forcing himself to obey his brother despite his instincts screaming at him to protect his mother.

The mental picture made his chest heavy.

"I don't remember much more about what happened after that," Sasuke murmured, staring down at his hands. "I know some men made it upstairs, because I could hear their voices, but Itachi held them off, kept them away from me."

His voice broke then, a tremor shattering the monotonousness in it. "When the police came, they found my mother dead in the living room with my father covering her. He'd tried protecting her, but they had killed him first before killing her. Two of the gang were found dead in the room too – they think my father took them out before he died. The other two were found dead in the corridor outside my room; nii-san had killed them."

Naruto swallowed and his nails dug into his legs through the fabric of his jeans when he asked in a small voice, "And your brother?" He was afraid to hear the answer, but if Sasuke was brave enough to talk about it, he owned it to him to listen.

"He died. They told me he forced himself to live long enough until he was sure I'd be safe."

A heavy silence fell as Naruto tried to process what he had just heard. _Sasuke's entire family had been murdered._

He had lost his parents and his older brother, just because some bastards had grown greedy. At only twelve years old, his entire world had been destroyed. How had he managed to wrestle through that? Naruto couldn't imagine losing his parents that way; he thought he'd go crazy with grief if his parents were taken away from him in such a horrifying manner. He had no siblings, but that only made it worse, because Sasuke had lost more than Naruto could even imagine.

How did one react to hearing such news? _I'm sorry_ wasn't enough to convey just how horrified he felt and how much he was aching for the other boy. Nobody should have to go through something as horrible as that.

"After the funerals, a friend of nii-san took me in and we moved here. I couldn't stand to keep living there," Sasuke suddenly spoke up again.

"I – I don't know what to say, Sasuke," Naruto said helplessly, hating the fact that he couldn't help his friend with this. "Nobody should have to go through all that and I'm – I'm so sorry. I know that won't mean much, but I'm … You're so strong, to have kept going despite what happened."

Sasuke chuckled bitterly, shaking his head. "Strong? I'm not strong," he sneered, self-loathing flashing up in his eyes. "Itachi was strong, father was strong – I wasn't strong enough to help them. If I had been strong enough, Itachi wouldn't have had to protect me and he'd still be alive. I'm an Alpha and I couldn't even help protect my mother!"

"You were twelve, Sasuke!" Naruto said aghast. "Nobody expects a twelve year old to protect an adult even if they're an Alpha!"

He was pinned against the wall with a glare. "Itachi was able to do it when he was twelve and mother was being harassed by a drunkard," he spat, balling his hands into fists. "If I hadn't hidden away, my family - "

"You were doing what your brother told you to do!" Naruto cut him off and impulsively grabbed Sasuke's wrists, holding them tightly. "They might have killed you too if they had seen you. Your family wanted to keep you safe; they wanted you to be okay. Nothing what happened that night was your fault."

The Alpha looked away, but curiously didn't try to tug his hands out of Naruto's grip. After months of being rather taciturn, though, it seemed as if the dam had broken, because he went on in a strangled voice, "It feels like it's my fault, because I was too weak to help them. My brother was always the smarter one, the stronger one, and he should have been the one who survived, not me. If I'd been stronger, he wouldn't have needed to protect me and …"

"Sasuke …" There was so much pain shining through dark eyes and brewing in that deep voice and all Naruto could do was hold Sasuke's wrists, feel his muscles jumping and clenching underneath his touch. He wanted to do so much more, but what? He couldn't do anything to take away the pain; going back in time was still impossible after all.

"Afterwards – I kept getting into fights," Sasuke went on, voice growing softer again; his hands slack against Naruto's. "That's how I met Gaara actually. He'd noticed me a couple of times before and then decided to give me another outlet for the anger I felt. He taught me how to defend myself, how to fight others and incapacitate them and … It helped a bit. _He_ helped. I didn't ever want to be that helpless again, I wanted to know how to protect and – he gave me that." He laughed humourlessly; looking paler than normal. "He – if it weren't for him, I don't think …"

He didn't finish his sentence, but a block of ice settled into Naruto's stomach at the implication that hung between them. At the same time a sudden realisation dawned upon him, triggered by Sasuke's words.

After losing his family, Sasuke had accepted Gaara's help to train, to – in his words – get strong enough to _protect someone_.

Suddenly Sasuke's behaviour towards him made a lot more sense. Why he had reacted so furious that time Naruto had been in heat and attacked by those idiots. Why he insisted on waiting until Naruto had entered his house, no matter how many times the blond insisted he didn't have to. The way he tended to hover when they were out on the street, walking closer to Naruto, even though the Omega knew he wasn't particularly fond of having his space invaded.

Why he was determined to act as some kind of chauffeur to Naruto and drive him home most days even when Naruto assured him he was fine just taking public transport if his mum couldn't pick him up. His suggestion that Naruto would join his martial arts class and Gaara's subsequent comment that he'd never taken someone else there before – it all started to make sense finally.

Even his question about dad's gun suddenly made a lot more sense given what he had just heard.

Sasuke blamed himself for failing to protect his family, his mother, who'd been an Omega – just like Naruto. He had trained with Gaara in order to better protect somebody and for some reason, he had decided Naruto was someone he wanted to protect. He was even making certain that Naruto knew how to defend himself when necessary, by taking him to Gaara's dojo for lessons.

He was doing for Naruto what he couldn't do for his family.

Naruto felt overwhelmed at that realisation. How many people knew what had happened to Sasuke's family, that his past was the reason why he was so standoffish now? Not that many, he acknowledged silently, recalling all the conversations he had had with the others about Sasuke. In fact, nobody else but Naruto might know about what had happened to the Uchiha family before Sasuke moved to this place. Their classmates certainly didn't know.

If Sasuke had kept quiet all those years – what made Naruto so special that he would confide in him today, the day that would forever be tainted by the murder of his family?

"Why tell me about them?" Naruto asked softly. _Why tell me when you never told anyone else?_ was the unspoken thought lingering between them.

Sasuke looked at him, having grown calm again. "Because I trust you," he answered simply.

The significance of that admission wasn't lost on Naruto and this time he was the one looking away; his stomach doing an odd flip.

When he glanced at Sasuke, those dark eyes still looked too empty for his liking and searching for a way to distract the other boy, Naruto blurted out, "You want to stay the night? We can have a sleepover."

Sasuke blinked, obviously taken aback before he scoffed, "A sleepover, really? What are we? Thirteen years old?"

"Hey! Sleepovers are timeless, okay? There's nothing wrong with them, no matter our age!" Naruto protested, punching Sasuke's shoulder.

The dark haired boy looked at him as if he was an idiot and shook his head. "I don't have anything to change into," he pointed out with a sigh.

Accepting that as the Alpha's agreement to staying the night, Naruto grinned and crawled off his bed, going to his closet. "Don't worry about that; I've got some things you can borrow."

Rummaging through the closet, he unearthed what he was looking for and turned around with them triumphantly. "Here, some shorts and a shirt; they should fit you."

Too late he realised that the shirt he was holding up was one he regularly wore when he had his heat. During his heats he couldn't stand cloth sticking to his skin, so he preferred to wear larger clothes which fell around his frame and didn't feel so restrictive.

The shirt he was about to give to Sasuke was his favourite, because it felt loose and soft and overall made his heat more bearable. His clothes were washed after his heat was done, of course, so there shouldn't be anything of his scent still clinging to it, but …

Well, it would be fine, no? They were just clothes after all.

"Here, put these on. I'm going to tell my parents you're staying the night," Naruto said and hurriedly pushed the bundle in Sasuke's hands, trying to suppress the irrational worry that Sasuke might still get a whiff of his heat scent in the fabric.

His parents were watching some kind of romantic drama when he walked into the living room.

"Dad, mum?"

They both looked up and mum smiled. "Yeah, Naruto? You two done studying?"

"Eh yeah, I was just wondering – is it okay if Sasuke stays the night?" Naruto questioned, irrationally nervous. He clasped his hands behind his back and rocked back and forth on his heels.

"He wants to stay the night?" Dad asked surprised; a light frown marring his forehead.

"Eh, I actually asked him whether he wanted to stay," Naruto admitted, worrying his lip between his teeth. "He, eh, he told me something and I don't think he should be alone now, you know?"

It was a testament to how freaking amazing his parents were that they didn't ask further questions or demanded he told them what Sasuke had told him. Naruto knew his parents wouldn't just start blabbering about it, but this was not his tale to tell. Sasuke trusted him, and he didn't want to break that trust.

Mum's face softened and she nodded. "Of course, sweetheart, he can stay the night. If his parents are okay with it, of course."

"Yeah, thanks, I'm going back upstairs now. Goodnight!" Naruto dodged the loaded remark with a quick smile and rushed back upstairs.

Sasuke had already changed into the black shorts and the dark blue shirt when Naruto entered his room again. The shirt clung a bit to his chest and Naruto tore his eyes away from the sight, clearing his throat.

"They're okay with it. Do you have to call your guardian or so?"

The Alpha eyed him curiously. "They're okay with me staying the night? Just like that?" he inquired incredulously as if the very notion of them agreeing was unbelievable.

"Of course, why wouldn't they be?" Naruto asked surprised, cocking his head to the left.

"Because I'm an Alpha and you're an Omega?" Sasuke said slowly, furrowing his eyebrows.

A bark of laughter escaped the blond and he waved his hand. "They know we're friends! There's nothing weird about you staying over!"

"Fine, where am I going to sleep then?"

"Erm, in my bed?"

Sasuke stared at him.

"What? I don't think you want to sleep on the floor and it's not like we have an extra guest room," Naruto defended himself.

"You better not be a kicker," Sasuke warned him. "Do you have at least an extra toothbrush?"

"What, afraid you'll get my cooties?" Naruto teased and laughed even when a pillow smacked him straight in the face.

* * *

Naruto accidentally kicked Sasuke once during the night.

In retaliation Sasuke pushed him out of the bed, which Naruto thought was a gross overreaction and he would get back at Sasuke for that as soon as possible.

That 'soon as possible' would have to be in the morning at the earliest, though, because the bed was too comfortable and warm now and the Alpha made a surprisingly decent pillow.

* * *

That first sleepover seemed to set something in motion.

As reluctant as he had been the first night to actually stay the night, as easy-going about it Sasuke became after that. He never asked to stay the night, but he wouldn't offer any protest anymore when Naruto suggested it.

Kushina and Minato stopped giving weird looks when Sasuke stumbled into the kitchen in the morning a couple of weeks later, having grown used to the Alpha staying the night frequently. They had only remarked on it once and that was to tell Naruto he could have Sasuke stay over whenever as long as his grades wouldn't suffer underneath it.

Why his grades would suffer because his best friend – and yeah, they were definitely best friends now, no denying that anymore – stayed the night was a mystery to Naruto, but he knew better than to question his mum about it.

Even with Naruto knowing about Sasuke's home situation now, the dark haired boy still preferred to stay at Naruto's place instead of going to his own. Naruto met Sasuke's guardian a couple of weeks after his birthday – which Sasuke had celebrated with him by taking him to a ramen stand and paying for all his bowls; something which he had probably regretted after the fourth bowl had disappeared in the Omega's stomach – and while the older man, a silver haired guy named Kakashi, was very pleasant, Sasuke was mostly scowling throughout the meeting.

"He's afraid I'm going to tell you all sorts of embarrassing secrets about him," Kakashi said and winked. He was wearing a mouth mask, getting over a cold.

"You don't have any embarrassing secrets about me, you idiot," Sasuke hissed and kicked his leg.

"He's always such a delight to have around," Kakashi snorted, lazily kicking the younger Alpha back while Naruto stared at them bemused. "I'm glad to finally get to know you, though, Naruto-kun. I was wondering who had managed to crack his shell." His dark eyes glittered.

"Erm, well, it's nice to meet you too," Naruto smiled. It was. Given Sasuke's evasiveness about Kakashi before, he had thought the man had to be someone really horrible, a jerk or so, but his only crime so far seemed to be that he loved teasing Sasuke and pushing his buttons.

"Well, you've seen him, we're going to my room now. We have a literature test tomorrow and I need to help him study," Sasuke said tersely, standing up and tugging Naruto up by his arm.

Kakashi's eyes positively shone when he chuckled, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

That remark earned him a magazine against his head.

* * *

So even with Naruto knowing about Kakashi, they rarely stayed over at Sasuke's place. The Alpha preferred staying at Naruto's and it wasn't like the Omega minded the other one's presence that much.

It was kind of funny, actually. With how regularly Sasuke had been staying the night, his scent had become infused in the pillows and the blankets. As such even during the nights the other boy wasn't there, Naruto was still cloaked in his scent.

He couldn't say he minded that. There was something soothing about the sharp, woodsy scent imbedded in the fabric and while he would never admit it to anyone, it helped him fall asleep faster than before they had started this whole sleepover thing.

* * *

His heat in December hit him unexpectedly harder than before.

Even with his medicine, shivers shook his body and sweat left a disgusting sheen behind on his skin. He felt warmer than usual and not even kicking off the blankets and letting the cold hit his bare legs helped him cool off.

The fire in his belly was worse, a gnawing sensation making his cramps worse than before, and even curling up didn't help matters. He felt empty, hot, needy and sore and overall, this heat just fucking sucked.

Sweat stuck his clothes to his skin and slick kept dripping between his cheeks, practically plastering his underwear against him. It was a fucking disgusting sensation and not even showers did much to take off the edge.

Everything was just getting to him, overwhelming him, and he just wanted to scream and yell and curse everything that had thought Omega deserved to go through these shitty heats every goddamn fucking month!

A knock on the door distracted him from how miserable he was feeling and he croaked out, "Yeah?"

The door opened a bit and mum stuck her head inside. When she spotted her son lying miserable and sweaty on his bed, appearing generally done with life, she smiled sympathetically. "Hey, Naruto. Sasuke-kun stopped by just now."

He sat up, alertness shooting through him at the mention of his best friend. "What did he want?"

Sasuke never stayed over during Naruto's heat. It was not something they had explicitly agreed on and it could even be coincidence, but Naruto didn't think so. It was just something Sasuke refused to do. Maybe the pheromones were even too much for him?

Then again, Naruto wrinkled his nose and pushed his shorts a bit lower, getting annoyed at how the waistband seemed to dig into his stomach, he wouldn't want to sleep next to someone who was a disgusting mess of sweat and slick and general misery either.

"He said he'd accidentally had taken one of your shirts home and thought you might like it back," Mum explained, crossing the distance to hand over a white shirt.

Squinting at it, Naruto reached out and took it, studying it curiously. He couldn't remember Sasuke having borrowed one of his shirts lately, but whatever. It felt soft and cool in his hands and it would make a great substitute for the sweat soaked one he was currently wearing.

"Thanks." Whipping off the green shirt he'd been wearing for the past two days, he shimmied into the white one immediately, almost purring at how soft and loose it fell around his torso.

"He also said to text him when you were feeling better and that he would collect the homework for you," Mum added with a smile before backing away and leaving the room again, closing the door behind her.

Plopping back down onto the bed, his nose twitched when a peculiar scent entered his nostrils and curious, he brought the collar of the shirt to his nose.

_Huh._

That wasn't his scent clinging to the fabric, but Sasuke's. Naruto would recognise the woodsy, sharp scent with its undertones of raspberry and rose anywhere, given how much he inhaled of it whenever he laid down in his bed.

Was this even his shirt? Or had Sasuke accidentally given one of his own, thinking it had been Naruto's?

Ah well, what did it matter? The shirt felt great against his skin, light and airy and large enough not to feel restrictive, and Naruto would take any kind of relief at this point.

Anything as long as he stopped feeling this _fucking hot_.

* * *

Hands drifted across the inside of his thighs, skimming across the sensitive skin and he shivered, opening his legs wider, wishing those hands would touch him higher, firmer.

"Stop teasing," he whined, grappling at strong shoulders and pulling the other one closer to him, practically dragging him on top of him. He felt on edge, like he was about to explode and it wouldn't take that much anymore for that to happen and god damn it, he needed that!

A soft chuckle against his slack mouth. "You're always so impatient," he murmured, rubbing his nose against a damp cheek.

Naruto huffed, throwing one leg over the Alpha's thigh. "You'd be impatient too if you were feeling even a shred of what I'm feeling now," he grumbled, but tilted his head back obediently to allow the other boy to kiss his neck.

"And what are you feeling now, hm?"

"Empty," Naruto instantly replied, surprising himself with how bold he was. "Like I'm missing something. Fuck, I want you." That last one escaped him in a breathy voice and his toes curled into the sheets when fingers touched him between his cheeks, gathering the slick which was royally dripping out of him by now.

"Well, we can't have you feeling empty now, can we?"

Those words had him whining and his hands dipped down to grab the Alpha's arse, digging his fingers into it as he pushed his own hips up, moaning when he met the answering hardness.

"Please, please, I'll be good, I promise, just please touch me, stop teasing me, _please_."

"Because you asked me so nicely." Reddened lips curled up into a smirk before they crushed against his own at the same time as two fingers slipped inside, touching something deep within him.

The fire in his belly exploded and everything went white; his body shaking and shivering and trembling and his scream was swallowed up by firm lips.

Shock after shock went through his body and as he opened his eyes, he sought and found –

* * *

Blue eyes shot wide open, his heart hammering inside his chest like he had just run a marathon.

His body was still shivering like he had never left the dream and he didn't need to look down to know what had happened.

"Oh fuck," he whispered in the darkness, horrified as he realised what had just happened.

He just had had a sex dream.

A sex dream about Sasuke, his best friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN2: Now you finally know what happened to Sasuke to make him act like that. I hope this chapter met your expectations!
> 
> Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me!
> 
> I see you all back in the next chapter!
> 
> Cuddles
> 
> Melissa


	4. Accepting Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: This chapter was surprisingly hard to write - which is why it's being posted so late. I hope it doesn't come across as rushed!
> 
> Thank you so much for your comments and the kudos! I can't believe we're already nearing 500 kudos! I'm speechless, you guys!
> 
> Warnings: Hm, nothing special that really deserves a warning, I think.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
> 
> I hope you'll like it!

_4 Accepting Part 1_

He ended up experiencing a couple of other dreams involving Sasuke and them being – naked and doing stuff together.

He suspected that the shirt was to blame – after all, he'd never had this type of dream before Sasuke had given him his shirt. Wearing an Alpha's shirt was clearly fucking with his senses. The logical conclusion would be to remove the shirt and throw it in the laundry, but … Despite the dreams, his heat had eased up as soon as he'd pulled on the shirt.

It was as if he'd been wrapped inside the softest, warmest blanket; one which cradled him carefully, draining away most of the cramps. He was hard pressed to get rid of something when it had aided him so much.

So even with shame like a heavy stone in his stomach, he couldn't bring himself to pull off the shirt and throw it away. For the first time since he could remember, his heat was manageable now, even skirting towards the edge of bearable.

If having weird dreams about his best friend was the price to pay then well …

He couldn't really say he would pay that price without any doubt, but the level of clear-headedness the shirt gave him – it felt like freedom and he was loathe to give that up. It was relieving to feel more like himself when wearing it; his heat still troubled him, would until he would find a partner to help him combat it properly, but it wasn't as bad anymore as it had been at the start.

By Friday morning his heat was gone, disappearing for another month. The clothes he'd worn during these past couple of days, including Sasuke's shirt, were dumped in the laundry basket and he spent ages in the shower, scrubbing himself clean of all the sweat and slick that had accumulated over the past couple of days.

When he stepped out of the shower to dry himself off, he was feeling better, cleaner. Exhaustion still lingered a bit, as it always did right after his heat, but that was easy to ignore, especially when the delicious smell of pancakes drifted upstairs.

Dad had already left for work when Naruto went downstairs, but mum was there, flipping over a third pancake in the pan. She turned around with a smile and gestured to one of the chairs.

"Hey, sweetheart, you feeling better?"

"Yeah, my heat stopped," he replied, dropping down on a chair. "Just a bit tired, but that's all."

She nodded, pushing two pancakes on a plate in front of him. "Well, it's Friday, the last day, so you might as well stay home today too. No point in going back just for one day after all," she said and shrugged, plopping down the bottle with chocolate syrup on the table.

"No complaints from me here," he grinned, snatching the bottle up and squeezing it firmly, drizzling syrup all over his pancakes. He's perfectly fine with skipping two hours of mathematics and chemistry, thank you very much.

She snorted, giving him a mug with milk. "Yeah, didn't think you would complain," she said amused and went back to the pan where a fourth pancake was nearly done. "Let Sasuke-kun know he can come over if he wants to, okay? He can bring over your homework so you won't have fallen too behind when you go back to school next week."

At the mention of the Alpha's name, swallowing the bite of pancake suddenly became a tad harder and it took him a few tries and some milk to get it down without choking in it. "Eh yeah, yeah, I'll text him, ask if he can come over," he said feebly, praying his face wasn't as red as he felt it was.

"Don't know why you're still asking; you know he'll come over either way," she chortled, tugging playfully at his hair. "You've got that boy twisted around your finger, Naru."

"Do not," he protested, swatting her hand away.

She grinned widely, swiping her long hair over her shoulders. "Please, he's as whipped as Minato is."

"Don't need to know that, mum," he grimaced, even though he knew she was right – at least when it concerned his dad. Mum definitely was the one wearing the trousers in their relationship. Dad didn't seem that bothered by it, though.

"We Uzumaki know how to charm Alpha," she said cheerfully, rolling up one pancake and taking a bite from it. "I'm going to start the laundry already; be right back."

He grunted and listened how her footsteps faded away as she made her way to the washing room, humming some song underneath her breath.

Her comments about having Sasuke whipped had him unwillingly remembering one of his dreams, in which Sasuke had been waiting for him on a bed, his eyes half lidded and his arms behind his –

No, he wasn't going to think about it anymore. It was bad enough he had had that type of dreams about his best friend; he definitely wasn't going to think about them when his heat was finally over. He could do without the embarrassment those dreams filled him with. He still needed to be able to look Sasuke in the eye and he wouldn't be able to do that if he kept remembering those dreams.

 _Everyone has those dreams about their best friends sometimes_ , he tried to reassure himself, stabbing through a piece of pancake firmly. _Especially if that best friend is really attractive._

He wasn't blind; he acknowledged that Sasuke was one of the most handsome men he had met so far. The guy could make a living out of being a model, for fuck's sake. But just because he thought Sasuke was quite attractive, that didn't mean anything else. His heat had just messed with his mind, the unexpected presence of an Alpha scent catching him off guard.

His mind had just latched onto the scent and produced some very realistic dreams to help him cope with his heat, that was all.

His dreams didn't mean anything. He and Sasuke were just best friends.

* * *

"Got your homework," Sasuke announced, waving a package in the air as he exchanged his shoes for house slippers. So often was he at Naruto's place that he had his own slippers by now.

"Thanks, didn't have to," Naruto sniffed, accepting the package and scowling down at it.

Even though the school was understandable to an Omega's heat and how that kept them from attending class for at least a couple of days, that didn't mean Naruto looked forward to catching up to all the lessons and homework he'd missed out on these past couple of days. He could only hope none of the teachers had covered anything really difficult during the time he'd been home.

"You're welcome," Sasuke riposted dryly, following him upstairs to Naruto's bedroom. "You feeling okay?"

"I'm fine, not as tired anymore either," Naruto replied, feeling absurdly grateful that Sasuke chose to sit down in the chair instead of on the bed. After those weird dreams he'd had, he didn't think he was ready yet to have the Alpha sitting on his bed any time soon.

As Sasuke collected his own homework and spread it out on the desk, Naruto left the room for a moment, going back downstairs to the washing room. He spotted what he was looking for almost immediately, lying neatly folded on top of other clothes in a dark blue hamper. After grabbing it and retrieving two cans of soda from the fridge, he made his way back upstairs.

"Got your shirt here," he said, dumping the cans on his nightstand for now. "Mum washed it, but, er, I'm not sure whether she got rid of the smell completely." He reddened, embarrassed to admit that he'd been wearing the shirt long enough for the scent of his heat to sink into it. He couldn't immediately catch a whiff of his scent, but then again, picking up on your own smell was a lot harder than catching the scent of someone else.

Sasuke looked up and actually perked up a bit, a faint smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "It's fine; it's not like you smell that horrible," he said flippantly and continued before Naruto could remark on that, "Did the shirt help a bit?"

Taken aback, the blond stared at him. "What?"

"The shirt." Sasuke nodded at it. "I only wore it for a bit to keep it clean, but did it at least help you somewhat?"

"Erm, yeah, it – it helped," Naruto replied surprised. "How did you - "

For the first time since Naruto knew him, Sasuke looked a bit bashful and he cleared his throat, admitting, "I read that an Alpha's scent can help reduce the symptoms of an Omega's heat somewhat and I figured I'd – I figured I could help you. You were complaining last month how much your heat sucks, so I thought I could help out this month."

That was actually incredibly thoughtful of the dark haired man. Naruto didn't think the Alpha actually knew how much of an effect his scent would have – he'd only wanted to help and after reading that his scent might help, he probably hadn't read beyond that.

He might have thought twice about giving Naruto his shirt otherwise.

Still, Sasuke had helped him. No matter how embarrassed Naruto became at remembering those dreams, there was no doubt about the fact that his heat had been less intense as soon as he'd started wearing the shirt.

"Yeah, it really helped, thanks," he smiled, holding out the shirt.

Sasuke took it and stuffed it in his bag. "If you'd like I could give you another shirt next month?"

Only the innocent sincerity on his friend's face made Naruto stop himself from vehemently denying the offer. Sasuke didn't know what kind of effect his scent had had on the Omega – apart from the soothing one anyway – and it would be rude to decline his offer.

That and well … Despite the mortifying side effect, the shirt _had_ helped with his heat. He'd be a giant fool not to accept the offer for next month.

Mustering a smile, he replied, "Yeah, that'd be awesome, thanks."

"Good. You need help with history?" Sasuke accepted the soda the other boy offered him next.

"You're going to give me the answers?"

"Like hell I will. I asked whether you needed help, I didn't say I'd do the work for you."

"Hey! Cut me some slack! I just recovered from my heat!"

"If you've got the energy to whine, you're fit enough to do your homework."

"Seriously, what kind of a best friend are you?"

"One who'll kick your arse if you don't stop whining."

"Your sympathy levels are out of this world, did anyone ever tell you that?"

"Naruto, less talking, more working."

* * *

Naruto told himself he wasn't disappointed when Sasuke left a couple of hours later, Kakashi having demanded his presence for one thing or another.

There was nothing to be disappointed about. It actually worked out quite well that Sasuke couldn't stay the night. Naruto still needed to change the sheets and after the … dreams of the last couple of days, it'd probably was for the best if their sleepovers were put on hold for a little while at least.

So no, not disappointed at all. That would be ridiculous and stupid and he was neither of those things.

He wasn't.

* * *

He'd sworn himself that he wouldn't think about what had happened during his heat. They were nothing but dreams after all; they didn't mean anything, except that perhaps he was a bit more sexually frustrated than he'd thought.

All he had to do was not think about the dreams. Such a simple task, yet …

He was becoming hyper aware of Sasuke's presence whenever the guy was with him – which given that they were best friends, was practically all the time. Sasuke's aura was naturally demanding, but now Naruto had a hard time tearing his eyes off of him. He'd space out in class only to come by and realise he'd been staring at Sasuke's hands for god knew how long. When listening to Sasuke explain something to him, he'd find himself focusing on the way those pale pink lips formed around the words, recalling those same lips sucking bruises in his neck in his dreams.

Spacing out and staring at his friend was already embarrassing on its own, but one particular moment in gym so far held the dubious title of being the most mortifying.

It was two weeks after his heat and they were playing basketball during gym class. In a stroke of luck Naruto and Sasuke were on the same team and they took great enjoyment – well, Sasuke's enjoyment translated itself into a small smirk like always – in snatching the ball away from their opponents and scoring one point after the other. Especially Naruto delighted in seeing the looks of frustration on his classmates' faces when he swiped the ball right from underneath their noses.

They only had around fifteen minutes left before the clock would announce the end of the class, when the game was paused by the sensei. Naruto didn't know exactly why – he thought it was because the two guys arguing with Gai-sensei had been fighting with each other about who had the right to take the ball. Honestly whatever their reason, it was probably a stupid one and Naruto was itching to continue the game.

The winner had been obvious half an hour ago – their team was clearly the superior one in this game – but that didn't mean he didn't want to finish the game properly and he was becoming annoyed with the hold up.

"Just fucking throw the ball out already," he muttered underneath his breath, hopping from one foot to the other one. His shirt stuck to his chest, damp with sweat, and he wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. Eugh, gross, he'd need a shower after the game was finished. Else he'd stink up the whole classroom.

Kiba sighed loudly next to him, his arms crossed behind his back. "Mitsuki always has to find something to complain about," he muttered darkly.

Shikamaru shrugged. "Don't really care, man. I'm glad for this break."

"That's only because you're lazy as fuck, Nara. It wouldn't kill you to put in a bit more effort, you know," Kiba snarked. "Maybe then we wouldn't be losing now!"

"As if. You know every team is bound to lose when they go up against Uchiha. What's the point in tiring yourself out when the outcome has already been decided from the start?"

"See, it's loser's mentalities like yours that make teams tank!"

Blue eyes drifted from the two arguing boys to the Alpha in question. Sasuke was a few feet away from him and if he'd heard the conversation between Shikamaru and Kiba, he didn't show it. He was looking at Gai-sensei and the two students with a slight frown on his face and his lips pressed together. He wouldn't ever admit it, but Sasuke had a fierce competitive side and even whilst being comfortably ahead in points, he wouldn't be satisfied until the game was properly finished. This break was probably irritating him as well.

As Naruto watched, Sasuke pulled up his shirt to wipe his face dry and unwillingly, the Omega's eyes were drawn towards the bared skin. The shirt was only raised high enough to reveal his stomach, firm with muscles, and a thin trail of dark hair which disappeared into his gym shorts. The dark hair stood out sharply against the pale skin and absently Naruto wondered just how hard those stomach muscles would feel underneath his hands.

Despite his sparring sessions with Gaara, he hadn't sparred with Sasuke so far, but he had seen the dark haired boy defeating his opponents effortlessly every session, barely breaking a sweat. The constant running and jumping during the game now, however, was making even Sasuke sweat and the blond thought he could see some sweat drops slide down Sasuke's chest, following the V line shape before hitting the waistband. He guessed even the perpetually unruffled Alpha would break a sweat with how long they had been running around, scoring points whenever possible.

Sasuke's arms flexed when he lowered his shirt and stretched out his arms; the frown on his face deepening as the boys continued to argue with the sensei. Naruto wondered how long it had taken Sasuke to grow those firm muscles. He assumed being an Alpha would be an advantage, but not every Alpha in the school looked as muscled as Sasuke did. Not that his friend was overly muscled, more lean looking actually, but there was no denying the fact that Sasuke's muscles were clearly defined.

Honestly, the guy just had to be the whole package, huh? Handsome, smart and muscled – the wet dream of basically everyone with an inclination towards the male sex. Hm, given how muscled Sasuke's arms were, would he actually be able to pick up Naruto?

A slap on his back snapped him out of it and he whipped his head around startled. "What?"

Kiba nodded to Gai-sensei, who was repeatedly clapping the two boys' backs. "Seems like the game is about to start again, thank fuck."

"There's only five more minutes left, can't we just go to the showers?" Shikamaru muttered dismayed.

"Seriously, dude, a bit more enthusiasm wouldn't kill you!"

"No, but it might hurt me."

"That doesn't even make sense!"

The two started bickering again – had they even stopped before? – but Naruto stood there frozen, the red flush on his cheeks having nothing to do with the sweat he'd worked up during the game, as he realised to his horror that he'd actually been _ogling his best friend_.

Fuck, he really needed to get a grip!

* * *

He didn't know what the hell was wrong with him. Ever since his heat, it was as if he couldn't look at or talk to Sasuke anymore without flashes of his heat fuelled dreams reminding him that he'd had sex dreams about his best friend. Sasuke stretched his arms and Naruto would stupidly wonder whether they would feel as firm as they had done in his dreams.

The Alpha would lick his lips and an urge would hit the blond to test out whether they were indeed as soft as they had felt like during his heat. Black eyes would look at him and all Naruto could think of was recalling how those same black eyes had been filled with a fire, one which had consumed the Omega whole in his dreams, glowing with lust and awe as his hands had mapped out the blond's body reverently.

It was fucking embarrassing.

Why the hell couldn't he just let this go? They had only been dreams, ones spurred on by the scent. He was getting all worked up for nothing; he was willing to bet other people sometimes had sex dreams about their friends too and they probably didn't act like such an idiot about it.

He just needed to stop thinking about it, before Sasuke would think something was amiss. His friend was already eyeing him weirdly whenever Naruto spaced out. He just – needed to stop being such an idiot about it.

So what if he'd had some dreams? They didn't mean anything and he'd be very stupid if he let them get in between him and his best friend. He needed to get over his embarrassment before Sasuke would think something was wrong.

Nothing was wrong. They were just best friends. All those stupid thoughts he'd been having about the other boy lately – they were just that: stupid. They'd go away on their own.

He just needed to stop thinking about them.

* * *

"You don't have a date to the Winter Ball yet?" Kiba stared at him amazed, fumbling with the apple when it came down again after he'd thrown it up in the air.

Naruto frowned, sucking the last bit of milk through his straw before crushing the carton. "No, why would I? I'm not interested in anyone." He shrugged, dumping the crushed milk carton on his tray.

Kiba cocked his head. "Huh, I thought for sure somebody would have asked you out." He squinted, balancing in his chair on two legs.

"Nope, nobody asked me."

The school had been buzzing about the Winter Ball for more than a month already. The ball would be held right before their winter break would start and according to what Naruto had picked up, it was an event every student in their year had to experience, some kind of rite of passage.

The halls were decorated with silver and blue garlands; fake snow dusting the windowsills. The gym room had been off limits for more than a week now as the student council set about decorating it for the ball; the gym room being the only one big enough to host all the students of their year. Flyers announcing the date and place of the ball covered the walls from view and it was all the girls could talk about lately. They would giggle with their friends, glancing at guys they were interested in and teasing each other about who would ask who for the ball.

Guys were coming up with creative ways – one more creative than the other – to ask out the girl of their dreams to the ball and more than once already Naruto had had to cover his ears to prevent his eardrums from being shattered when a girl was a tad too enthusiastic in saying yes.

He didn't really understand the fuss about this whole Winter Ball. So it was an evening of dancing and drinking – what was so special about that?

"So you're not going?"

"Nah, not really interested. You?"

Immediately a goofy smile appeared on Kiba's face and he nodded. "Yeah, I asked Hinata-chan out and she said yes!" He sounded like he still couldn't believe his luck.

Hinata was a rather shy, dark haired girl in their class. Naruto hadn't talked that much with her yet as she usually hang around with her cousin Neji, who was a standoffish arsehole on his best days and an unbearable arrogant prick on his worst, but the few times he had talked to her, she had come across as sweet and friendly. A bit of a stutter, but Naruto thought that was more related to her shyness.

"She seems nice," he smiled. "I'm surprised her cousin didn't crush your balls yet, though."

Despite not even having been here for a year yet, even Naruto knew just how protective Neji was of his cousin. He'd spotted more than one guy sporting a black eye or nursing a bloody nose because they had dared to ask out Hinata.

Kiba winced; his chair coming down hard. "Yeah, about that – he doesn't know yet."

Naruto stared at him before whistling. "Yeah, you're fucked, mate. It's been good to have known you."

Kiba whined and dropped his head down on the table in defeat.

* * *

"Are you attending the Winter Ball?" Naruto asked later that evening when he and Sasuke were sitting in front of the television, watching some detective series. It would still be a few hours before his mum would come home, having gone to dad's police station to have a meeting with the boss there.

She was now seriously considering going back to her job as police officer and was thinking about working at the same place as her husband as she had done before.

Sasuke turned his head, staring at him incredulously.

"What?" Naruto asked defensively, throwing a crisp at him.

Batting the crisp away, Sasuke snorted and turned his attention to the television again. "No, why would I? It's not really my thing. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason. Kiba asked me today whether I was going with someone, so I got curious, I guess," Naruto said and shrugged. "Oh, did you know he asked out Hinata-chan? She said yes, so they're going to the ball together."

Sasuke grunted, sounding somewhat amused when he replied, "It's his funeral."

The blond hummed his agreement before falling silent again, watching how the camera zoomed in on a couple of hair strands that the pathologist had plucked from underneath the victim's nails with a pair of tweezers.

"You want to go or so?" Sasuke asked after a while, breaking the silence.

Blue eyes blinked, the question tearing them away from the screen. "Er, never really considered it to be honest," Naruto replied slowly. "Don't have anyone to go with anyway, so it's a moot question."

"Hm, well, you want to go with me then?"

The question didn't register at first, because the words sounded so odd coming from the Alpha who despised social events, but when it finally did, Naruto's eyes widened and he whipped his head around.

"Wait, what? You want to go with me?" he asked stumped, completely taken aback by the unexpected inquiry.

"Yeah, if you want, that is."

Before Naruto could think twice or stop himself, his mouth opened and he answered, "Yeah, sure, if you don't think it'd be weird."

"Why would it be weird?" Sasuke retorted calmly before going back to watching the series.

And that was that apparently. He and Sasuke would be attending the Winter Ball together.

_What._

* * *

"I never thought I'd see the day my baby would be attending a school ball." Mum sounded way too delighted for something as stupid as a school ball.

"It's just a ball, ma," Naruto muttered, holding the robin egg blue shirt in front of him, studying himself in the mirror.

With only a few days left until the ball, Naruto had finally confided into his mum that he would be attending it and she had instantly declared it was time for a shopping trip, stating he couldn't attend a ball in the clothes he normally wore.

He didn't understand why he couldn't, but he knew better than to go against his mum's demands, so here he was now, in a clothing store at the mall, trying to figure out which colour of shirt he'd wear with the black jeans his mum had picked out already. He could only thank his lucky stars she wouldn't force him into a pair of actual slacks.

Well, robin egg blue definitely wasn't the right colour. Clucking his tongue, he threw the shirt down on the chair next to him and selected a dark green one.

"It's not just a ball, Naruto," Mum sniffed and tsk'd when he held up the shirt. "No, that one goes too. It doesn't really match your eyes well."

"It's green," he muttered, but obeyed and made it join the pile of the rejected shirts – that pile was growing increasingly taller to his great concern. How long had they been here in the store already?

"Who did you say was taking you to the ball?"

"I didn't," he said distracted, fishing out a pale purple shirt. One look at the colour had him grimacing and he threw it next to him without even holding it up. "Sasuke's taking me."

"Sasuke-kun asked you out?" She sounded stunned and he turned his head, narrowing his eyes at her.

"To the ball, yes. As friends," he retorted sharply, knowing full well which implication of the verb 'asking out' she had latched onto.

"As friends, hm?" She eyed him sceptically.

"As friends, yes," he said annoyed, holding out a soft yellow shirt in front of him.

"You know, there's nothing wrong with falling in l-"

" _We're friends, ma."_

She held up her hands and sighed. "All right, just friends. But Naruto – I don't think 'just friends' would spend hours in one store just to find a shirt," she said meaningfully.

He froze; his fingers curling around the fabric of the shirt. "You're exaggerating; we haven't been - "

"We arrived here after your last class, and seeing as you got out of school earlier, we got here by three thirty. It's now almost six o'clock and your dad already called me once to ask where we were."

His ears were ringing faintly and he could only stare at himself in the mirror, seeing himself holding up the umpteenth shirt as the pile of dismissed ones towered tall next to him.

He hadn't realised – _why_ was he spending so much time on finding a shirt? It was just a stupid shirt for a stupid ball. What did it matter what colour it was? It shouldn't matter, but –

In the back of his mind he'd been wondering what kind of colour Sasuke would like to see him in. He'd actually been wondering which colour would be good enough for this, which shirt would attract Sasuke's attention.

That wasn't – he wasn't –

_He was behaving like someone with a crush._

He was standing here in the store, hours later, trying to pick out a shirt, and nothing was good enough. Nothing seemed good enough to attend the ball with Sasuke and –

It shouldn't be that important, right? The colour of his shirt. It was just for going to the ball.

It was just to go to the ball with Sasuke.

Sasuke, his best friend.

It wasn't like he – like he was – there was no way he …

_Oh god, what was he going to do?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN2: I hope this didn't come across as rushed. As this is part 1 (again, I know, bear with me, please) we'll go deeper into Naruto's thoughts in the next part. The next part will also contain something I think you'll like :)
> 
> Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
> 
> I hope to see you all back in the next chapter!
> 
> Cuddles
> 
> Melissa


	5. Accepting Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: Still within the month so I'm not too late! I had to finish it today and it turned out a lot longer than expected *coughs* 
> 
> I hope it doesn't come across as rushed; apologies if it does :/
> 
> Thank you for all the comments and the kudos! Seriously, guys, almost 600 kudos already?!!!! I'm blown away!
> 
> Warnings: Hm, a bit of angst and drama? The start of a panic attack at the beginning as well
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
> 
> I hope you'll like it!

_5 Accepting Part 2_

"Calm down, Naruto, it's all right," Mum said soothingly, gripping his wrists softly.

"All right? It's not all right, ma!" Naruto hissed, staring at her wide-eyed. Ice cold tendrils of panic started squeezing around his chest, making it harder for him to breathe. His breath grew shallow and he stumbled backwards.

He couldn't be falling for Sasuke, he couldn't! Sasuke was his best friend; there was no way he was crushing on him. That just couldn't be happening! There was no way he'd started liking the Alpha like that. He was just confusing his feelings for something else, because of the whole stupid ball thing and those stupid, screwed up dreams!

Sasuke was his best friend – that was all, nothing more.

He was only vaguely aware of soft hands guiding him through the store, mum saying something to a concerned clerk, before automatic doors closed behind them with a soft 'hiss' and then he was led to a small corridor in between two stores. There was nobody else here and the wall felt rough when he leant against it.

"It's okay, sweetheart," Mum murmured, brushing her fingers through his hair and shushing him when he shook his head furiously.

"No, it's not, I – we're just friends, nothing else! I can't like him like that!"

"Hey, hey, there's nothing wrong with liking your best friend," she said; her voice still low and soothing. "It's okay, I promise. It's perfectly fine if your feelings changed."

"No, ma, you don't understand. He's my best friend! I can't fall in love with my best friend!" His voice was gaining a higher pitch as he neared hysteria; his nails digging into his palms as he clenched his hands into tight fists. He knew he should stop freaking out, stop making such a fucking scene about this – god, they were in public, why was he acting like an idiot in public? What the hell was wrong with him? – but he couldn't stop.

He was _freaking the fuck out_ right now and no matter what he did, no matter how much he tried to think of something else, all his thoughts kept revolving around one thing only, swirling around it like it was the centre of a whirlpool: _Sasuke_.

Warm hands framed his face and forced him to look straight into serious, violet eyes. "Listen to me, honey, there is absolutely _nothing wrong_ with falling in love with your best friend," Mum said firmly, squishing his cheeks when he opened his mouth to protest. "No, it really isn't. Your dad and I were friends too before we became something more. And that's good! It's great to be friends first! Because that way you already know each other and there's no law that says your romantic partner can't be your best friend too."

"But I – I didn't mean … I didn't …" he stammered, unable to get through the rest of his sentence; the words getting jammed in his throat. He swallowed and took a shuddering breath, trying to ignore how much of a mess he must look right now.

"Nobody plans on falling in love, baby boy," she said softly and her thumbs started rubbing small circles across his cheekbones. "It just happens. There's no real reason to it. There's nothing to be ashamed of, do you hear me? If you've fallen for Sasuke-kun, that's perfectly all right. You've got nothing to be ashamed of, I promise."

Sniffling, he relaxed his hands and twisted his fingers into his mum's sweater instead; the zipper of her open coat brushing against the back of his hand. "I don't know what to do," he confessed miserably.

He wasn't sure whether he was even ready to come to terms yet with what he felt for Sasuke. Was it really more than friendship? Had he really fallen for the dark haired boy? When had that happened? In all these months, when had his feelings started to change?

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to," Mum reassured him. "If you want to tell him, you can tell him. If you're not sure yet and want to keep quiet about it, that's fine too. There are no rules for this."

Watery, blue eyes dropped down to the floor; his face became uncomfortably hot and he licked his lips. "I don't want to mess up our friendship."

If – if he really liked Sasuke like that, like in the romantic sense – there was no way he could confess. What if Sasuke would feel weird about it? What if they couldn't be friends anymore just because Naruto had to be stupid and get feelings for the Alpha? He couldn't let that happen! He loved having Sasuke as his best friend – he didn't want to lose him all because he had to go and screw up!

"You're not going to." Mum sounded incredibly confident, as if there was no way Sasuke could ever react badly to a possible love confession from his best friend.

"You don't know that, ma."

"I know you and I'd like to think that after all this time, I know Sasuke-kun a bit too," she said calmly. "Even if he doesn't return your feelings, he won't abandon you, Naruto. Have a bit more faith in that boy."

"I didn't mean …" He released a muffled sound of frustration and released mum's white sweater to rub harshly over his face.

"Look, you don't have to decide anything now," she said soothingly. "You can think about it or ignore it as long as you want."

"I don't think you're supposed to tell me to ignore this, ma," Naruto muttered, lowering his hands to gaze at her with a frown.

She shrugged carelessly. "I'd be a hypocrite if I told you something else." At his perplexed face, she uttered a small, embarrassed chuckle and reached back to scratch her neck. "Look, you're not the only one who freaked out at the prospect of liking your best friend, okay? You think _I_ was completely zen when I realised what I really felt for your dad? Please, I threw a worse fit than you! Your grandma had to replace several things of her chinaware because I was freaking out so much I started throwing with it!"

"Is that why she kept those cupboards locked every time we went to visit her?" Naruto realised, startled laughter escaping him at the mental image of his mum losing her shit all because of dad.

She wrinkled her nose and sighed, resting her hands on her hips. "Yeah, that's why," she admitted begrudgingly. "She's never completely forgiving me for ruining some of her best set – even though I replaced those like a few years later!"

"Does dad know you threw plates all because of him?" he asked, still laughing; mum's story distracting him from his own little panicking frenzy.

She gave him a deadpan look. "Please, as if I would give him ammunition like that," she scoffed, sweeping her long, red hair over her shoulders. Narrowing her eyes, she added warningly, "And you keep your mouth shut too or you might discover that your present pile has been significantly reduced this year."

"Oh, ouch, ma, that's low," he said accusingly, though his mouth kept twitching into a big grin.

"Low, but effective," she quipped before her features softened again. "You feeling a bit better now?"

That sobered the boy up quickly. "Yeah, I guess," he muttered, rubbing over his nose before dropping it again. He didn't think he would start freaking out again any time soon, but that didn't mean everything was completely fine again either.

She nodded in understanding and linked their arms together. "No need to worry about it now. What do you say of finishing your shopping, hm? Even if nothing happens, that doesn't mean you can't look amazing at the ball."

"Isn't the store closed by now?" He frowned, trying to see if he could spot a clock nearby. He didn't know how long they'd been standing here, but considering the hours they'd already spent in the store, wasn't it closing time by now?

Shaking her head, she tugged him out of the corridor and started leading him back to the store. "No, well, not today at least. I told them we'd be back soon, that you just needed a fresh breathe of air before we'd be back to make our decision."

"And they just accepted that?"

"I know the owner of the shop," she replied flippantly. "She's the wife of one of Minato's colleagues and we've been out for coffee a couple of times."

"Right," he said bemused and figured there was no point in trying to figure out why exactly mum would be having coffee with the wife of one of dad's colleagues. Mum had always been a social butterfly, so really, it wasn't that weird for her to go for coffee with random people.

The bright lights of the shop caught her eyes and made them glisten as they stopped in front of the door. "Now let's pick out something that's sure to make some heads spin at that ball." She winked.

* * *

"Look, for what it's worth, I don't think you'll have to worry about Sasuke-kun's reaction," Mum said, when they were back in the car and driving home.

Rubbing the shiny paper of the shopping bag on his lap between his thumb and index finger, Naruto mumbled, "You don't know that."

"I've seen you two together, Naruto. Trust me, you've got nothing to worry about."

"Maybe," he agreed and looked out of the window, watching the headlights of some cars pass them by.

Clutching the bag with his purchase closer against his chest, he ignored the funny way his stomach flipped at the implication of mum's words.

_Nothing to worry about, huh …_

* * *

"Naruto, Sasuke-kun's waiting!" Mum called from downstairs.

"Yeah, I'll be right done!" he shouted back, fiddling with his collar. He was using the mirror in his parents' bedroom to make sure he didn't look like shit; that was the last thing he needed tonight, especially with how nervous he was already. He felt ready to throw up any second now with how much his stomach was flipping and turning.

_Eugh, he really hoped he wouldn't start puking._

Tonight was the Winter Ball and Sasuke had arrived to pick him up. Classes were done for this semester and they'd have a short break of two weeks before lessons would start anew. Maybe with the new year, Naruto would also have …

He shook his head briskly and studied himself in the mirror, taking a deep breath. He was wearing the black jeans mum had insisted he should wear, coupled with brand new, very dark blue shoes. After several hours, he'd finally settled on a deep blue shirt which, according to mum, made his eyes pop out and complimented his tanned skin very well.

After a short bout of hesitation, he unbuttoned the first two buttons, pulling the stiff collar away from his neck. A hint of his collarbone was shown and he bit down on his lip, questioning silently, a bit despairingly, whether he was really going to go through with this.

He didn't have to; he could just keep it to himself for a while longer, but …

"Naruto?"

"Yeah, I'm coming!"

With one last look at his mirror image, he left the room and descended the staircase, seeking support on the bannister. Sasuke was waiting for him in the middle of the hallway, dressed impeccable and devastatingly handsome in a blood red shirt and black trousers; his coat momentarily resting over his arm. God, of course he would look so amazing; it was bloody unfair just how _good_ the Alpha looked.

Black eyes gleamed when they landed on him. "You look really good," Sasuke told him when his feet touched the tiled floor.

Flushing a bit, he grinned, "You too. You're going to make people faint at this rate, bastard."

"Really? Maybe I'm not trying hard enough yet, seeing as you didn't faint," Sasuke smirked and ever the mature one, Naruto reacted by sticking out his tongue.

"All right, boys, I hope you'll have fun," Mum grinned, clapping her hands together. Dad appeared right behind her, smiling when he spotted the two boys. "Be back before midnight and don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

"Kushina, sweetheart, given your rep sheet that might not be a smart thing to say," Dad said amused and hissed, still smiling, when she pinched his arm.

"Fine, don't do anything your dad wouldn't do then," she huffed, crossing her arms. "That better?"

"Much better," Dad chuckled before growing a bit more serious when he addressed them, "Like your mum said, be back before midnight and don't drink. Neither one of you. I don't want to hear from a colleague that they had to arrest you for driving under influence."

"I can't drive yet," Naruto helpfully reminded him and Sasuke snorted softly.

"Still doesn't mean you're allowed to drink." Dad raised an eyebrow. "Consider it showing sympathising with Sasuke-kun."

"Fine, we'll be good, I promise," Naruto reassured him and after one more "Have fun, you two!" they left the house, entering the icy coldness outside.

Snow had arrived in the country a few days ago, coating everything it touched with a thin white sheet. Dad had offered to drive them, but Sasuke had assured him he was perfectly capable of driving in the snow and as the Alpha was deemed more responsible than Naruto, dad had acquiesced without any protest.

Naruto would be offended, but at the moment he was more preoccupied by how the evening might turn out – and with making certain he didn't slip on his way to the car. He hadn't got dressed up this nicely only to land smackdab in the snow. Fortunately the footway had been cleared and salted, so at least near his house he didn't run the risk of falling flat on his face or arse.

Sasuke's car was pleasantly warm and they spent the way to the school talking about their classes and whether or not Neji had killed Kiba already or not. The blond was grateful for these distractions, but as they neared the school, nervous butterflies started another rampage in his belly and he had to take several measured breaths to keep calm, ignoring the curious look Sasuke threw him once.

The parking was filled with cars dropping off students, parents calling out last warnings before departing again. Sasuke ended up parked near the back and they hurried towards the gym, eager to get inside and stave off the biting cold. They handed over their coats to a bored looking teacher and were practically swept away by the stream of other students pouring into the large room.

The heavy beat of the drums greeted them, vibrating through the floor, and Naruto watched people dance and jump enthusiastically to the music underneath the multicoloured lights. Alongside the walls long tables had been placed; bowls of punch and canned soda kept cold in boxes filled with ice filling up the tables. There were bowls with crisps as well and plates with thin sandwiches. A couple of teachers were stationed near the tables, keeping an eye out so that nobody would dare to spike the punch.

Glancing at Sasuke, Naruto had to grin when he saw the blank look on his face and some of his nerves abated. Really, why was he nervous? He was here together with Sasuke, his best friend; there was nothing to be nervous about. Hell, Sasuke might be more uncomfortable than him, given how much he disliked being near a large crowd.

"Wanna dance?"

The look of utter dismay on the Alpha's face was _priceless_.

* * *

Sasuke did end up dancing with him in the end. They had spent some time near the tables first, drinking some soda and talking with friends. Well, it was mainly Naruto talking to his friends while Sasuke occasionally hummed in reply, but seemed content to not interact with them. That wasn't a surprise to either one of them and the other guys weren't bothered by it.

To everyone's surprise Kiba had actually arrived at the ball in one piece, guiding a blushing Hinata around, who was dressed in a pale lavender dress of which the sleeves flared out around her wrists. It turned out that Kiba, ever the brave one, had picked up Hinata before Neji could arrive at her home and was now doing his best to avoid her cousin's wrath.

Naruto wished him sincere good luck with it; he was going to need it given the circumstances.

After a while somehow – Naruto still wasn't sure how he'd managed it – he'd needled Sasuke into joining the dancefloor and they hadn't left it since. Sometimes a girl would come closer, try to get between them or ask Sasuke to dance, but the dark haired boy rebuffed them each and every time, often not even glancing at them, but keeping his attention solely aimed at Naruto.

The Omega didn't think he was imagining those looks of pure venom when the girls stamped off, their pride hurt.

"You know, you don't have to keep dancing with me. You could dance with someone else," Naruto suggested, even if a large part of him balked at the thought. He liked dancing with Sasuke and the idea of a girl being this close to him left a bitter taste behind in his mouth.

"I'm not interested in them," Sasuke said dismissively; his hand resting idly on Naruto's waist as they moved in tune to the music. "Why, you want to dance with someone else?"

"Not at all!" The denial was quick to leave his mouth and he hoped that the heat in his cheeks would be attributed to the warmth in the room.

He'd done a lot of thinking after mum had driven them home from the mall. Why exactly had he been so intent on finding the perfect shirt if Sasuke was just his best friend? It shouldn't have mattered in that case, right? But it had and mum's remarks had forced him to contemplate what exactly he felt for the dark haired Alpha.

He felt drawn towards the other, had since the start – that was a fact he couldn't deny. There had been something about the dark haired boy which had attracted his attention from the very first moment he'd laid eyes on him. Something in those eyes had pulled him in, had fascinated him.

Sasuke had intrigued him from the start – and somewhere along the line his feelings had shifted, changed into something else. Naruto couldn't pinpoint exactly when that had happened. Did it really matter anyway? There was no escaping that now.

The past few days he'd tried to imagine how it would be like to have Sasuke as a – as a boyfriend instead of only a best friend. What it'd be like to hold his hand in a completely non platonic way, whether he'd like kissing him … He'd imagined it and –

Well, he couldn't say he was entirely opposed to the idea. The thought of kissing Sasuke had had heat pooling in his lower belly and his entire body buzzing with restless energy. It had left him flustered, his cheeks warm, but there had been no denying it: he wanted more.

The big question now was: was he brave enough to admit it openly? More importantly: did he have enough courage to confess to Sasuke?

"Naruto?"

Sasuke's curious voice drew him out of his thoughts and he shook his head. "Nothing, I was just thinking …"

At that moment the bright lights above them suddenly dimmed until everyone was cloaked with a soft purplish glow. The pop song which had been blaring just a few seconds ago died out and was replaced by a slower, gentler melody; a female voice crooning something softly.

Naruto's heart skipped a beat when he realised that the local DJ had set up the scene for a _slow dance_. Abruptly keenly aware of how close he was standing to Sasuke, he uttered a nervous chuckle and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Eh, guess this is a dance you might want to …" he trailed off as soon as his eyes locked onto black ones and he froze underneath the gaze.

There was something stirring in those depths, something indescribable, and Naruto's breath hitched when he felt warm hands still resting on his waist, right above his hips – when had Sasuke placed his other hand there? They gazed at each other as all around them couples started swaying to the slow beat; the frenzy of before having disappeared. When Naruto licked his lips absentmindedly, dark eyes darted towards his mouth for a brief moment before flicking back upwards, seeking out blue eyes.

That was – was that a good sign? Sasuke wasn't pulling away, despite the slow music, despite knowing full well what kind of dance was expected for this type of song. His hands remained on the Omega's waist, even when the blond took a hesitant step closer. He didn't move when Naruto nervously placed his hands on his shoulders, but just kept gazing at him with an intensity Naruto had never before witnessed.

" _You've got nothing to worry about."_

Mum's reassurance echoed in his mind and Naruto wondered whether she was right.

Wondered whether he was reading this thing between correctly, whether he should just be brave and risk it.

Sasuke still wasn't pulling away, even with their chests now pressed together, and that – that had to be a good sign, right? If Sasuke – if Sasuke didn't feel anything for him except friendship, he wouldn't keep standing here, no? He wouldn't allow Naruto to press up against him and he definitely wouldn't keep gazing at the blond with that particular look in his eyes, right?

Did – did Sasuke feel the same?

If Naruto kissed him now – would he kiss him back?

Well … Only one way to find out.

"Sasuke …" he murmured, his voice almost lost in the music. Taking a deep breath and gathering every shred of courage he had in him, bracing his hands on firm shoulders, he tilted his head slightly.

For one short moment, seconds that seemed to be minutes, they stood there suspended in time, energy crackling between them, seeing nothing but each other; faces dipped in soft purple and warm white. But Sasuke didn't move, remained standing there, and that was all the answer Naruto needed.

His body erupted with fire as soon as their mouths touched; his stomach doing several flips. Every last nerve ending in his lips seemed electrified, the kiss making them tingle, causing a pleasant shiver to run down his spine.

God, this kiss felt – it felt so incredibly …

A bucket of ice cold water seemed to crash down over him when he realised with a quickly growing sense of dread and horror that Sasuke _wasn't kissing him back_.

He didn't return the kiss, but stood there stiffly, unmoveable. Naruto might as well have been kissing a statue for the amount of response he got.

Feeling sick, he ripped himself away from the Alpha, stumbling a bit and nearly bumping into the couple behind them. Black eyes stared at him in shock, Sasuke looking paler than before even in the warm light.

"I'm – I'm sorry, I thought that you, I thought that we – I've got to go," Naruto stammered, feeling like he was going to throw up any second now.

 _He had fucked up. So very, very badly_. What the hell had he been thinking? How could he have been so stupid? Of course Sasuke didn't like him like that! He just had to go and kiss him like a moron and now he'd ruined their friendship.

Tears threatened to spill over, burning the back of his eyes, as he turned around and ran. Out of the room, away from those shocked, dark eyes. He ignored the irritated shouts when he accidentally bumped into other people; paid no attention to the bewildered looks his escape from the room received.

He had enough presence of mind to snatch his coat from the rack and then he was stumbling outside; the cold like a slap in his face, stinging his hot cheeks. He marched away from the gym, passing a couple of people who were chattering and drinking from bottles which looked suspiciously a lot like they contained beer.

Through the gates, onto the street and then he stopped for a moment, realising that he'd arrived at the ball with Sasuke. Obviously he couldn't wait for Sasuke to return to his car and this late in the evening, there were no busses around here that he could take. Taking his mobile out of the pocket of his coat he stared at the dark screen for a few seconds before shaking his head and stuffing it back into the pocket. He knew he should call mum or dad, but …

He didn't want to explain just yet how badly he'd fucked up. He didn't want dad's awkward reassurance that everything would be all right or mum's cooing and worrying. They'd most likely know the moment they saw him when he arrived home, but for now he just couldn't deal with them yet.

Walking it was then.

After hastily pulling on his coat and stuffing his hands into his pockets, he set off at a brisk pace; his cheeks still uncomfortably warm even with the cold air slicing into his skin.

How could he have been so stupid? He'd just kissed Sasuke instead of actually making sure that the other boy returned his feelings. Fuck, what must Sasuke be thinking of him now? Would he think that Naruto was just like all those girls who'd tried to befriend him in the past just to get into his pants?

Sasuke had told him about them some time ago when Naruto had witnessed a girl from a lower year seemingly trying to befriend to the Alpha before being bluntly rejected. Naruto had been curious, wanting to know why Sasuke wouldn't give the girl a chance at least. She hadn't flirted, hadn't giggled obnoxiously like most girls were wont to do whenever Sasuke so much as glanced at them; she'd just been friendly yet had been rather brutally rejected.

It turned out that Sasuke had grown wary of girls approaching him to become friends as all the girls before had only done so in order to seduce him. He'd told Naruto that he'd got good at recognising when a girl was sincere about her intentions or not, adding flippantly that he wasn't interested in becoming friends with a girl either way.

During that conversation Naruto had felt awful for his best friend, had been angry at all the girls who'd tried to mislead the dark haired boy like that. Now he was afraid Sasuke would assume he was just like them, that he'd only become friends with him in order to get more.

That wasn't true! That wasn't true at all, but now he'd gone and messed up really badly. What the hell was he going to do now? Would Sasuke still want to be friends with him after this? Or would he be too uncomfortable, knowing that Naruto felt more for him than just strictly friendship?

What was he going to do if Sasuke no longer wanted to be friends with him?

That thought had his heart clenching in pain and he took a shuddering breath, biting down harshly on his lower lip to stop the tears from coming out.

"Naruto-kun?"

The unexpected voice had him whipping his head around and he stared dumbfounded at the car which had drawn to a stop next to him. Through the open window Kiba's sister, Hana, leant forwards, eyeing him curiously.

"Shouldn't you be at the ball?"

He shrugged, rubbing his nose. "No, had enough of it," he muttered, praying his eyes weren't red rimmed. He'd talked to Hana a couple of times before when he'd visited Kiba at his place, but it wasn't like he knew her that well. She was older than Kiba and already attending college. She must have just returned from her classes.

"So you're walking here alone?" she asked sceptically, frowning.

"My ride's – not really available anymore," he answered evasively, feeling uncomfortable underneath her sharp, assessing gaze.

Clucking her tongue, she gestured to the seat next to her. "Get in, I'll drive you home."

"What? No, you don't have to do that!" he protested startled. "It's out of your way anyway, I don't want you wasting gas."

"Let me worry about the gas, all right? It's not exactly the right temperature – or the right hour – to walk outside alone," she said impatiently. "Now get in here before I get out and drag you into my car."

Even though he didn't know her that well, he'd heard enough from Kiba about her to realise that she wasn't joking and that she would indeed drag him into the car if he didn't get in on his own volition.

"If you're sure," he muttered and stepped into the car when she opened the door. After giving her the address, he slumped into his seat, keeping his face averted to the window.

"The ball not going like you expected it to?" she asked neutrally after they'd passed a couple of streets in silence.

Bitterly he smiled. "No, not exactly. I made a really stupid mistake."

"Don't we all?" she sighed and he appreciated it that she didn't try to make him feel better. "Whatever it was, though – it'll get better. Eventually. Might not be for a while yet, but you won't feel like shit all the time." She side-eyed him, seemed to know the dark thoughts crossing through his mind and added, "Even if you feel like that won't ever happen. It will. Just – give it some time."

"Yeah, thanks." He nodded, hiding his mouth behind his hand. If he lost Sasuke's friendship because of his moronic move, he doubted he'd ever feel better about it, but all the same, he found a bit of comfort in her words.

The rest of the ride passed by in silence. He waved and thanked her when she stopped in front of his house and she smiled briefly, her teeth glinting in the dark, before shooing him off.

Mum appeared in the hallway when he closed the front door behind him. Surprised, she said, "Back so soon? Was the music that crappy?" Her teasing smile disappeared in a flash when Naruto looked up and she got a better look at his face. "Naruto, what happened?" She glanced over his shoulder, as if expecting someone else to follow. "Where's Sasuke-kun? Did he go home already?"

This time there was no holding back the tears and his shoulders started to shake as he tried valiantly to keep silent. Mum uttered a noise of alarm and immediately came over, wrapping her arms around him, pulling him closely against her. "Sweetheart, what happened?" she asked alarmed, brushing a hand over his hair.

Clutching his hands into the back of her sweater, hiding his face into her shoulder, soaking the material of her sweater with his tears, he choked out, "I fucked up, mum."

* * *

The start of the winter break went by without any sign of Sasuke. No call, no text, no visit.

Naruto felt like shit. He feared he'd fucked up beyond repair with Sasuke, all because he'd stupidly thought that kissing him would be a great idea. He figured he should try to at least call him, apologise for kissing him when he clearly hadn't wanted that, but …

He was scared. Afraid that Sasuke would refuse to pick up. Afraid that Sasuke would pick up and would tell him they could no longer be friends.

It was so fucking stupid, really. If Sasuke no longer wanted to be friends, it would be better if Naruto knew it soon, so that he wouldn't keep torturing himself with wondering just how badly he'd screwed up.

It was just … He couldn't do it. He couldn't call Sasuke and hear those words spoken in that voice. He couldn't stand the thought that he'd lost Sasuke's friendship because of his own idiotic feelings. He should have just kept them to himself, should have kept quiet about it and under no circumstances should he have ever kissed Sasuke.

God, he'd been such an idiot. What had he been thinking? That Sasuke would like him like that? That he was what the Alpha was interested in? Sasuke was incredibly handsome and smart, skilled in so many different fields – he and Naruto were on completely different levels.

So how could he have ever deluded himself into thinking Sasuke might feel the same?

"You're not an idiot, Naruto," Mum murmured, running her fingers soothingly through his hair.

It was Friday evening and she had entered his bedroom a while ago, trying to coax him into playing a videogame with her as a form of distraction.

It'd been a week since the ball and he hadn't heard anything of Sasuke at all. He hadn't dared to call either, even though he'd stared at his mobile enough times now that it was a surprise it hadn't disintegrated underneath the force of his stare.

He hadn't left the house except for going to Gaara's dojo once and being the coward that he was, he'd gone at a time he'd been relatively sure of that he wouldn't encounter Sasuke there. Gaara had instantly picked up that something had happened, but mercifully he hadn't said anything about it. Naruto could still feel those green eyes burning a hole into his skull whenever the red haired man thought he hadn't been looking, though. He probably could expect some sort of interrogation if he went back without Sasuke again.

He snorted harshly, curling up tighter on his bed. "I kissed him without even knowing for sure that's what he wanted, ma," he muttered, trying to ignore the desire to turn his head into his pillow and sniff. Sasuke's scent still clung to the pillow, but it was slowly fading away.

He and Sasuke had never spent more than a couple of nights apart since they'd started their routine of sleepovers – until now. Now it'd been more than a week since Sasuke had slept at his house and his scent was fading away to Naruto's quiet misery.

"Don't be so hard on yourself. You reacted to the signals you got; a lot of people would have gone for a kiss," she said and sighed. "I'm sorry, Naruto."

He shrugged half-heartedly. "Don't be sorry. I'm the one who started the mess."

She sighed again, but didn't reply. She and Naruto had gone back and forth about this the entire week already, her telling him time and time again that he shouldn't feel guilty about it and that things between him and Sasuke would be okay again soon.

He had inherited her brand of optimism, but at this moment, with complete radio silence on Sasuke's end, it was difficult to believe that everything would be fine between him and the Alpha.

Curling around him, she pressed a kiss on his cheek. "It'll be okay, you'll see."

He wished he could believe her.

* * *

On Saturday he puttered around the house, not really interested in doing anything. His parents had left to go to the store and would stop by dad's work afterwards. Tomorrow was Christmas and dad wanted to make sure that his schedule hadn't been changed and that he indeed had the day off.

Should he make a start on his homework? He had a couple of assignments that he really should get to; Ibiki would have his head if he didn't deliver the question sheet on time. Pulling a face, he made his way upstairs to his room, hoping he'd still had all his assignments in his bag and not strewn around somewhere.

They were not in his bag. Crap.

They weren't in plain sight on his desk either, so crossing his fingers, he started riffling through the drawers of his desk, pulling them open one by one and pushing other stuff out of the way. His fingers bumped against something firm and he stilled, staring down blankly at the object.

It was flat and wrapped in bright orange wrapping paper; he'd been exceptionally proud to find that colour even if it had made dad shake his head. The package contained a book about samurai; his Christmas gift for Sasuke. Holding it in his hands, he wondered what he should do with it. Would Sasuke still accept a gift from him even after what –

The doorbell rang, startling him into dropping the gift back into the drawer. Heart thumping quicker from surprise, he hurried downstairs. Did his parents forget their keys? That'd be odd, but it had happened before.

"Did you forget your - " He cut himself off abruptly when he realised just who was standing at the front door and he froze.

Sasuke stood in front of him, dressed in a long, black coat; the lower half of his face hidden behind a dark blue scarf. His cheeks were tinted red; his dark eyes shadowed by his hair. "Can I come in?" he asked, his voice low. His eyes roamed across Naruto's body and the blond felt suddenly self-conscious in his large sweater and worn out sweatpants.

"Erm, yeah, sure, come in," he said awkwardly and took a step aside, gesturing the other boy inside.

They didn't say anything while Sasuke removed his coat, scarf and shoes, replacing them with his house slippers. In unspoken agreement they made their way to the living room and then they stood there, silently studying each other. The atmosphere in the room was beyond awkward; it hadn't even been this bad when Naruto had just started to get to know the dark haired boy and had still been trying to discover just where the boundaries were between them.

More than ever now he wished he'd never kissed Sasuke. This tense air between them wasn't worth it.

They opened their mouths at the same time. "I'm sorry."

"I've been an idiot."

They gaped at each other before Naruto laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Do you – do you want to go first or so?"

"Yeah." Sasuke took a deep breath, looking so uncharacteristically nervous that it set the blond on edge. "At the ball when you kissed me - "

"I'm sorry about that," Naruto blurted out. "I thought you – no, it doesn't matter what I thought, I shouldn't have done that. I don't – I don't want to mess up our friendship, so I'm really sorry. Can't we just, I don't know, can't we forget about it?" He winced, crossing his arms and digging his nails into his skin.

"Will you let me finish?" Sasuke asked, a tad exasperated. When Naruto nodded abashed, miming zipping his lips shut, he sighed and glanced away, looking a tad uncomfortable. "I was an idiot," he stated bluntly.

That particular admission had Naruto blinking confused. "Erm …"

"When you kissed me … I should have kissed you back instead of just standing there," Sasuke continued chagrined and Naruto was completely stunned into silence, staring at the other boy.

"I've been …" Sasuke crossed his arms, gazing at the floor. "I'm not good with emotions," he eventually went on. "After – after my family died, I didn't want to feel anything anymore. I kept everyone at a distance; it's not like anyone was interesting enough for me anyway."

Naruto stood there, uncertain what to expect. Was this conversation going where he thought it was? Or was he just reading the signs wrong again?

"And then you came along and … everything changed." He laughed softly, shaking his head self-derisively. "It's cliché, but it's true. There's something about you that's just hard to ignore. I tried, but well, I clearly didn't succeed."

Naruto's mouth felt dry all of a sudden, as if it had turned into desert.

"I don't know when things changed for me, but … A while ago I realised that I … that I feel more for you and – I was an idiot at the ball. I don't know why I didn't do anything. I'm sorry it took me this long to show up; I was just … I hadn't expected you to feel the same and I just." He shook his head and this time he looked straight at Naruto, his voice ringing out clear as day in the room when he stated, "I like you. Romantically that is."

The words came out a bit halted, but not less sincere and Naruto's heart started beating quicker, his stomach doing that weird flip thing. Sasuke liked him back? He wasn't dreaming now? His best friend – a guy who could get anyone he wanted just with a snap of his fingers – felt the same?

"And I'd really like a do-over, if you don't mind."

"A do-over?" Naruto repeated, croaking out the words. Discreetly he pinched his arm and had to bite back a hiss at the sharp pain flaring up briefly. Well, he definitely wasn't dreaming.

"Yeah, I kind of messed up our first kiss, so what do you say about another first kiss? This time I promise I won't be an idiot and I'll kiss you back," Sasuke smiled, but his smile wavered and his entire demeanour screamed 'nervous' as if after everything he thought Naruto wouldn't want him anymore.

As if _he_ was the one who should be afraid of rejection. _Honestly_.

Grinning, feeling lighter than air, he crossed the remaining distance and wrapped his arms around Sasuke's neck. "I think I can do a do-over, yeah," he said, but couldn't help but ask, "If you're really sure, that is. I don't want you to feel like you have to - "

"Naruto," Sasuke cut him off, slipping his own arms around the Omega's waist, "shut up." His lips were pressed against Naruto's before the younger boy could say anything in response and this was – this was –

Sasuke's lips moving softly, almost unsurely, against his, his warm breath caressing Naruto's skin, his hands resting like two hot brands on his lower back; Sasuke liking him back, kissing him back for real this time …

Yeah, this second first kiss was a lot better if you asked Naruto.

_Infinitely better._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN2: I hope I didn't screw up too badly with the last part of this chapter *frowns* Writing the last scene went more difficult than I expected … But well, hey, they're together at last? Only took them five long chapters LMAO (You have no idea how badly I wanted to cut off the chapter right before Sasuke showed up LOL)
> 
> Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
> 
> I hope to see you all back in the next chapter!
> 
> Cuddles
> 
> Melissa


	6. Joining Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: Today is a special day, everyone! Because not only has this story reached more than 600 kudos already - holy shit, thank you so much for that! - but you'll also be getting two chapters today! I've decided to cut the chapter in two, because I like to keep the chapters to roughly the same length, so that's why you'll be getting two chapters today :)
> 
> The first one I'll post now and the second one will be posted later today once it's finished, so keep an eye on that!
> 
> Thank you so much for all the comments and the kudos! Seriously, guys, almost 700 kudos already? What the hell, this is amazing!
> 
> Warnings: a bit of a serious start, but mostly it's rather light hearted I think
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
> 
> I hope you'll like this first part!

_6 Joining Part 1_

"I'm glad you came here today," Naruto said, watching his thumb rub over the back of Sasuke's hand.

After the Alpha's confession downstairs, they had moved to Naruto's room, snuggling on his bed and kissing some more. They ended up with Naruto's head against Sasuke's shoulder and his left leg thrown over the other boy's thighs; their hands tangled together on the blond's stomach.

"I'm glad too," Sasuke murmured; his other hand, trapped underneath Naruto, pressing against the Omega's back, a warm imprint even through his shirt.

"I – I was afraid you wouldn't want to be friends anymore," Naruto confessed quietly, rubbing his cheek absently against Sasuke's shoulder.

"I would have still stayed friends with you even if I didn't feel the same," the dark haired boy immediately retorted. "I was stupid to stay away for a week."

Naruto shrugged as much as he could in this position. "It's not like I was any better. I didn't dare to text or call you either," he said chagrined, still upset with himself that he hadn't had the balls to contact Sasuke.

"Considering you thought I'd rejected you, I don't blame you," Sasuke sighed.

A moment of silence passed between them before Naruto inquired, "What made you decide to come here after all?"

It was quiet for so long Naruto felt the need to look up to make sure the other boy hadn't somehow fallen asleep. He wasn't; dark eyes were staring at the ceiling in contemplation. He must have felt the blond's gaze on him, because he looked down and offered him a wry smile.

"I've said that I kept everyone at a distance after my family died, right?"

The non-sequential answer took Naruto off guard and he blinked a couple of times before nodding slowly. "Yeah, yeah, you said that."

"It's …" Sasuke took a deep breath, a dark look passing over his face momentarily. "I kept everyone at a distance because I … was afraid of losing someone else I loved."

Naruto's heart thudded painfully in his chest at that admission and he slipped his arm around Sasuke's waist, hugging him, hoping it would soothe him at least a little bit.

"I didn't want to feel that pain ever again. Love wasn't worth that," Sasuke went on; voice low. "What's the point in loving someone if you end up losing them? I know that – the chance of me losing someone else was small, but why take the risk, right?" His chuckle came out weak and pained.

Naruto stayed quiet, just holding the Alpha.

"I tried hard not to feel anything for you," Sasuke said; his hand shifting to slide underneath Naruto's shirt. "But the more we spent time together, the more I realised that – I really liked you. At first I thought I felt that way because I hadn't had friends for so long and I was just confusing friendship for something else. But then it hit me and – it scared the hell out of me. I wasn't ready to admit it and I thought that I could just ignore it. Because there was no way you would ever feel the same for me."

"How could you ever think that? I thought I was being so obvious about it," Naruto murmured, not wanting to interrupt the older boy, but he couldn't stay silent either. How could Sasuke have ever thought that Naruto wouldn't return his feelings? It was the other way around! Naruto still couldn't believe Sasuke had returned his feelings!

"I think I was just too scared to see the truth. Because if I had to admit that I liked you then – I would set myself up for getting hurt and I never wanted to be hurt again," Sasuke said quietly.

"What – what made you decide to - "

"Because I wanted you more than I was afraid of getting hurt."

That admission shocked Naruto into silence even as he raised his head to stare wide eyed at Sasuke. Black eyes met his own before the Alpha kissed him softly.

"We don't even know each other for a year yet, but I'm terrified of losing you," Sasuke murmured, barely pulling back from the kiss. His hand came up to cup Naruto's cheek. "So I had two choices: I'd pull back, pretend that we're only friends and be miserable the whole time, wondering what if. Or I could bite the bullet and admit that I feel more for you and … Yeah. It took me more than a week, but here I am."

"Here you are," Naruto mumbled, entranced by the way those dark eyes glistened. "And here I am. You're not going to lose me, I promise."

The sad smile that appeared on Sasuke's face made the blond ache for him. "That's not something you can promise, Naruto."

"I can and I will," Naruto retorted stubbornly, sitting up and grabbing Sasuke's hands. "My parents are police – you don't think they taught me anything? Thanks to you, I'm also learning more self-defence from Gaara and you're with me."

"Things can happen," Sasuke started, but the younger boy cut him off.

"Sure, things can happen. I can step outside and get hit by a car, I could slip in the bathroom and hit my head on the tub, I could fall down the stairs – so many things can happen, but that doesn't mean we can't live our lives," Naruto insisted, squeezing slender hands. "Look, obviously I'm not going to force you, but you don't need to be afraid, all right? I can take care of myself."

"I can't lose you, Naruto," Sasuke said softly.

"And you won't, I promise. We Uzumaki always keep our promises," Naruto told him solemnly.

A sigh escaped the dark haired boy before a helpless smile unfurled across his lips. "I'm holding you on to that," he said.

"Fair warning," Naruto said as he climbed on top of Sasuke, straddling his lap and resting his hands on the Alpha's shoulders, "now that you've got me, you're not going to get rid of me that easily."

Sasuke smirked, resting his hands on Naruto's hips. "I think I can live with that," he said dryly. He paused before adding lightly, "So how badly are your parents going to freak out about this?"

Naruto thought about his mum, who had been the one to make him realise just what exactly he was feeling for his best friend. "I don't think you'll have to worry," he said. "Mum's the one who made me realise everything."

"Oh, well, that's great?" Sasuke said uncertainly, as if he was reserving judgment about that. "What about your dad?"

Oh shit. Right. He knew he'd forgotten something.

* * *

They decided to keep their new relationship hidden from Naruto's parents for now. Not that Naruto was ashamed of Sasuke, of course not!

But everything between them was still new and well, Naruto wanted to enjoy his time with Sasuke before other people would know about it. That and Naruto wasn't sure yet how his dad would react. The older blond had always been rather chill – both his parents were – but until now Naruto hadn't had a partner yet. Sasuke was his first boyfriend and the Omega wasn't sure how his dad would react to that. He didn't think dad would react badly, but you know …

Just until he was sure how his parents would react, he didn't want to tell them just yet.

Sasuke ended up being invited to spend Christmas with Naruto's family. Naruto's mum suggested they would invite Sasuke's parents as well when they came back from their trip and saw Sasuke was visiting.

That made Naruto realise that he hadn't told the truth yet about Sasuke's home situation and he glanced uncertainly at the Alpha, wondering what kind of answer he would give. Black eyes gazed back at him bemused.

"You didn't tell them?" he asked confused, blinking.

"Tell us what?" Dad sank down in the armchair with a sigh, a cup of coffee cradled in his hand.

Naruto and Sasuke had helped put away the groceries before they had all made their way into the living room.

"I didn't think it was my story to tell," Naruto replied, rolling his shoulders awkwardly. The look in Sasuke's eyes had him flushing slightly and looking away, uncrossing his legs.

"What story?" Mum sat down promptly on dad's lap, ignoring his grunt, and furrowed his eyebrows. "What was Naruto supposed to tell us?"

Sasuke leant back, his lips pursed in thought as he obviously was contemplating whether to tell them about his family or not.

"You don't have to tell them, you know," Naruto said quietly, fidgeting. "They'll understand."

"No, it's fine," Sasuke murmured and took a deep breath to steady himself.

Impulsively Naruto grabbed Sasuke's hand, which had been resting on the couch, and tangled their fingers together. Their hands were hidden behind the Alpha's crossed legs, so mum and dad wouldn't be able to see they were holding hands. Even if they were able to see them, though, Naruto didn't care. Sasuke was about to talk about something which was still very difficult for him and Naruto wanted to offer his support, hoping it would help at least a little bit.

Sasuke shot him a quick, grateful smile before he grew sombre and started, "My parents and my brother – they died when I was twelve."

Dad's eyes widened a tad and mum gasped audibly before she slapped her hand in front of her mouth. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry to hear that, Sasuke-kun!"

"They … were killed during a burglary that went wrong," Sasuke continued and his voice was just as flat as when he had told Naruto about his family. Fingers tightened around Naruto's to the point of nearly painful, but he didn't react, only squeezed back softly.

"Did the police catch the ones who did it?" Dad asked sharply; his coffee abandoned on the small table next to him.

"My father and my brother – they killed the burglars before they passed away," Sasuke replied monotonously; his body stiff and tense next to Naruto.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun," Mum said softly. "Nobody should have to lose their family at such a young age – especially not in such a manner. Are you staying with another family member now?"

Sasuke nodded. "Kakashi's my guardian; he was a friend of my brother and he took me in after – after they were killed."

Mum and dad exchanged a look. "Would Kakashi-san like to come over tomorrow too?" she suggested, offering a tentative smile. "We could celebrate Christmas together."

That made Sasuke snort for some reason; the unexpected sound pricking right through the heavy atmosphere which had started to grow after he'd began talking.

"Don't bother inviting him," he said, shaking his head. "Kakashi's never been interested in Christmas."

"Oh, er, what do you two usually do then?" she asked baffled and dad quirked an eyebrow.

He shrugged. "Kakashi usually holes up in his room with some booze and his books and I just read or watch a movie. We'll order some take out and that's that."

He knew it wasn't an appropriate moment, but the twin looks of horror on his parents' faces had Naruto doing his best to supress his snickering and he needed to turn away from them in order not to burst out in laughter.

What Sasuke had just admitted might as well be blasphemy in his parents' eyes; people who'd always pressed the importance of family on Naruto and on spending time and celebrating with the people you loved.

Christmas might not be such a big thing where they lived, but Kushina and Minato still loved to celebrate it as a way to spend time together and make each other happy with presents. That Sasuke had essentially said he hadn't celebrated Christmas in years was like a big blaring alarm to them; a fault they needed to correct.

"Well, ask your guardian just in case he wants to come over. Even if he doesn't come, we'd love to have you here," Mum said decisively.

"I don't want to bother you," Sasuke said cautiously and that made Naruto sober up quickly.

His stomach still aching a bit from his suppressed laughter, he turned to Sasuke and clucked his tongue, smacking the Alpha's arm. "We've literally been having sleep overs for months – why the hell would you think you'd be bothering us by celebrating Christmas with us?"

Scowling at him, Sasuke opened his mouth to retort, but was cut off by dad. "You won't be bothering us at all, Sasuke-kun," he reassured the younger Alpha. "Kushina is going to make way too much food like every year, so we could use an extra person to get rid of all the food." He winked.

Mum pursed her lips and slapped his shoulder. "I am not that bad!"

"Of course not, honey," he said soothingly, pressing a quick kiss on her lips to mollify her.

"Well, if you're sure, I'd love to come over tomorrow," Sasuke said, smiling faintly.

He didn't even pretend that Kakashi would be joining them tomorrow; most likely he wouldn't even mention the invitation to the older man.

Perhaps that was for the best for now, Naruto acknowledged silently. Kakashi could be rather crude and even if his remarks were meant as a joke, the blond didn't think those comments would go over well with his parents.

Later on they could introduce them to each other, but for now it'd be easier if only Sasuke would celebrate Christmas with them.

* * *

"Kakashi-san isn't bothered that you're here today?" Naruto asked, closing the door behind him until it stood ajar.

The dishes were done and put away and the presents unpacked. Mum and dad were reminiscing about their school days over a glass of wine for some reason while the boys had decided to go to Naruto's room to have some time alone.

"No, he isn't. I told you he's not that into celebrating Christmas," Sasuke reminded him, sitting down on the bed when the blond pushed him towards it.

"He could have still wanted you to stay home with him," Naruto retorted, grinning when the dark haired boy pulled him down next to him.

Dark eyes rolled. "He really doesn't care about things like that. As long as he knows where I am, it doesn't matter to him."

Naruto hummed and laid down, tugging at Sasuke's wrist until he understood the hint and laid down next to him. "But you didn't mind spending Christmas with us?"

"Why would I mind that?" Sasuke sighed, slinging an arm around Naruto's waist. "I liked it. I haven't celebrated Christmas since my family died." His tone was wistful, but not sad.

Still, not knowing what to say to that, Naruto turned his head slightly to kiss him. They had been sneaking a couple of kisses throughout the whole day when they had been alone in a room. The temporary secrecy was fun and all that, but being able to kiss Sasuke for as long as he wanted was a whole lot more fun.

Something the Alpha seemed to agree with, because the kiss grew quickly more insistent; a hand clamping down on Naruto's hip. A tongue hesitatingly swiping across his lower lip had a shiver running down his spine and tentatively Naruto parted his lips a tad. The tips of their tongues touched; the sensation both weird and interesting.

What did you even do with another tongue in your mouth? Sucking on it would be weird, no? Just touch it then with his? He was pretty sure there was more to this whole other tongue in your mouth business than he knew and he wondered whether he should hit the internet for tips or so. There had to be tips for this, no? The internet had answers for all kinds of things, so surely he'd find some ' _what to do with your boyfriend's tongue in your mouth?_ ' guide or so online.

Not that a later search would help him now, considering he had Sasuke's tongue in his mouth at this moment and he didn't have a freaking clue what to do with it! Shit, he should have looked this up last night, so that he could have prepared himself for this. His procrastination tendency really came back to bite him in the arse this time, hm?

Before he could start actually panicking, Sasuke's tongue disappeared and soft lips massaged his own for a few more seconds before the other boy drew back. They were both breathing harder, even if they had done nothing more but some kissing, and Naruto hoped he didn't look as flushed as he felt he was.

Gazing into glittering black eyes, he asked, "You staying the night?"

"Of course. I brought a spare set of clothes with me," Sasuke replied offhandedly and Naruto hid his grin into his shoulder.

He was looking forward to sharing the bed with the other boy again. Even though it had only been a week since Sasuke had last slept in the same bed as him, sleeping had become rather difficult for the blond. With Sasuke's scent fading away, his sleep had become quite restless and he'd been feeling rather tired this whole week.

It would be nice to have Sasuke spending the night again. He already felt better at the thought of being able to share the bed with the dark eyed boy again, wrapped up in his scent – and maybe even in his arms?

Yes, snuggling was definitely something that was going to happen tonight.

* * *

Naruto hummed as he shrugged on the sweatshirt and pulled on his pyjama bottoms. Sasuke was taking a quick shower before he'd brush his teeth and they would go to bed.

Naruto's present to Sasuke, the book about samurai, had been placed on the desk together with the cute stuffed frog Sasuke had given him in return. Aside from foxes, Naruto had always had a soft spot for frogs. He had a frog themed blanket and a little crystal statue of a frog standing on his windowsill. Still, he hadn't expected Sasuke to pick up on his love for frogs, so he'd been pleasantly surprised by the stuffed toy when he'd unwrapped it this afternoon.

He would need to find a good place for it; he was still debating between the foot end of his bed or giving it a spot on his desk.

Next to the frog there was also a gift card to Ichiraku's Ramen where he could go eat for free for _ten consecutive turns_. It had taken Naruto a lot of strength not to kiss Sasuke squarely on his mouth right then and there when he'd opened that particular envelop. Judging by the tiny smirk on the Alpha's face, the older boy had been quite aware of how badly the blond had had to restrain himself.

He might be his boyfriend now, but Sasuke was still a bastard at times.

A knock on the door had him looking up. "Mum?"

She was already dressed in her own nightwear; a thick robe warding off the chill hanging upstairs. Her long red hair was tied together in a loose braid.

"Sasuke-kun in the bathroom?" she asked curiously; the corners of her mouth quirking up in a quick fond smile when she spotted the frog next to the book.

"Yeah, he's taking a shower," Naruto replied, plopping down on his bed. "Dad still downstairs?"

"He's cleaning up some of our glasses, but we'll be going to sleep soon," she said and entered the room fully. Leaning against the desk, she patted the frog absentmindedly. "You know, I'm pretty sure any regular normal mother would put a stop to these sleep overs now."

Taken aback he stared at her. "What? Why? You said you were okay with it!" he protested, fingers digging into the blankets.

"That's back when you were still only friends." She raised an eyebrow meaningfully and it took him a couple of embarrassing long seconds to realise what she was alluding to.

He promptly reddened and waved his hands frantically. "We're still best friends!"

"Of course you are," she said placatingly. "But you're also something more. Don't even try to deny it, Naruto. It's basically plastered all over your face."

He deflated and sighed. "Is it that obvious?"

"That you're lovestruck?" she chuckled, the look in her eyes fond. "Hm, a little bit."

"Does dad - "

"Honey, I love your dad, but he can be an oblivious doofus sometimes," she grinned and winked. "This is one of those times."

"But you noticed." He furrowed his eyebrows, a bit upset that apparently he'd already betrayed their new relationship when they hadn't even been together for two days yet.

"I'm your mother. Of course I noticed it. You think I wouldn't notice the sudden switch in mood yesterday?" she scoffed. "I just had to take one look at your face to know what had happened."

"I wasn't that obvious," he muttered petulantly.

"I've seen that exact look on your face before."

"Oh yeah? Where?"

"On my own face when I started going out with Minato," she answered frankly, leaving her son speechless. She smiled; little wrinkles appearing in the corners of her eyes. "Seeing you yesterday next to Sasuke-kun was like looking at a mirror. We Uzumaki really aren't that subtle, you know?"

"Apparently subtle enough for dad," he couldn't help but point out.

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah well, it also took your dad two months to realise I had a huge crush on him, so he isn't very observant when it comes to matters like this one."

He snickered, knowing dad would protest that notion if he heard her saying it. All too soon he sobered up, though. The gig was up so to speak; apparently there was no keeping secrets from his mum. She really did make a good police woman.

"So I guess this means one of us has to sleep on the couch then?" he asked dejectedly.

It wasn't like they had been planning to do more than kiss; he wouldn't sneak around his parents' backs like that and besides, they were only together for two days: that was much too early to even think about doing something more than kissing and cuddling!

"If I was like any other mother, yeah, the whole sleeping together would stop today," she said wryly and rubbed the back of her neck with a soft groan. "But if I did that, I'd be a complete hypocrite. I've butted heads with my mum a lot when I started dating your dad, being mad at her because she forbade him sleeping over because she didn't trust us. I told myself that I would never be like that, so I guess that promise came back to bite me in the arse." She laughed softly, shaking her head.

"We're only going to sleep, I promise," he said hastily, a bit of hope blooming up in his chest. "We're not ready for more; we've only been together for two days!"

"I know, I trust you," she said and wrinkled her nose. "All right, how about this: Sasuke-kun can still stay the night, but I'll be making an appointment with the doctor for you this week."

"The doctor? Why?" Naruto asked stumped. "I'm not sick."

"No, you're not, but now that you've got a boyfriend," a small giggle escaped her and he narrowed his eyes, "that means your suppressants need an upgrade so to speak. We'll get you ones that will protect you against pregnancy instead of only numbing your heat."

"But I just said we're not going to do anything yet!" His face must be a tomato red by now, given how his cheeks felt like they were on fire.

"I know, but I've been your age too, Naruto, and I know that there will come a time when you want to go further. Trust me, I told my mum at the start too that I wouldn't be ready for sex for a long time yet, but after a month or so I wanted to climb your dad like a tree."

"Oh my god, mum, ew! I don't need to hear that!"

She ignored him and went on serenely, "I had a couple of pregnancy scares before we had you and I swore to myself that when I had a kid one day, I'd make sure they'd be protected during sex, no matter what Status my kid would have. Whether that meant buying condoms or getting the right suppressants, I'd do whatever was needed so my child won't have to go through a pregnancy scare like I did. Because trust me, sweetheart, there's nothing fun about sitting on a toilet at college, hoping to god that the stick won't colour positive, and panicking about what your boyfriend is going to say if it _does_ turn out positive."

She took a deep breath before crossing the distance between them and sat down next to him. "You might think it's embarrassing, but think of it like this: your body needs around a month to adjust itself to the new suppressants, so by the time you're ready to take the next step with Sasuke-kun, you won't have to worry about protection, hm?"

"I guess so," he admitted embarrassed. He knew she meant well, but that didn't make talking about sex with her any less embarrassing! "Thanks, mum."

"For what?"

"For being awesome about this," he mumbled bashfully.

"Well, I do try my best," she smirked and ruffled his hair before hugging him. "If you've got any questions, though, you know where to find me."

"I know," he muttered, hugging her back.

She stood up and stretched her arms. "All right, I'm going to my own bedroom before Minato starts wondering where I am. Good night, Naruto."

"Good night, mum." He hesitated briefly before blurting out, "So you're okay with this? With – with Sasuke and me, I mean?"

Resting her hand on the doorjamb, she gave him a soft smile. "Naruto, as long as you're happy, I don't care who you're with. I'm glad you and Sasuke-kun found each other."

"Yeah, I'm glad too," Naruto murmured, very much aware of the fact that he was grinning silly now.

She winked at him and left. He heard her padding down the hallway before Sasuke appeared in the doorway, some droplets clinging to the tips of his bangs. He cocked his head to the right and walked over to the bed, flipping off the light on his way over so that only the small lamp on Naruto's nightstand was still glowing.

"Was that your mum?"

"Yeah, came to talk to me for a bit," Naruto confirmed and slipped underneath the blankets, holding them up in a silent invitation for Sasuke to join him.

The older boy did, running his hand through his hair. "What about?"

"She knows about us."

_That_ had Sasuke pausing and he stared at the Omega blankly. "About us – as in she knows we're together?" he questioned cautiously, not even flinching when Naruto pressed his cold feet against his.

"Yep." His lips popped when he answered and he watched the other boy, curious to see how he would react to the news.

"Ah. Your dad?"

"Doesn't know about it yet. Guess mum will leave that up to us."

"She's okay with it?"

"Yeah, totally." _To the point where she'll get me new suppressants_ , he added silently and he clamped his lips shut to prevent a hysterical chuckle from escaping.

Getting new suppressants in case he would have sex soon with Sasuke was definitely not how he'd imagined the conversation about his new relationship to go. Sure, she'd been the one to basically make him realise what exactly he felt for his best friend, but still.

"Huh, should I go downstairs to sleep on the couch then?" Sasuke inquired uncertainly, already lifting up the corner of the blanket to get up again.

Naruto snatched his wrist before he could slip completely out of bed. "No! You don't have to! I asked and she said it was okay to sleep in one bed."

"She doesn't mind that we're sharing a bed," Sasuke repeated flatly, a dubious look passing over his face.

"No, she really doesn't. Trust me, if she did, you'd know," Naruto snorted before frowning. "Anyway, you're the 'guest' of this house, so it would have been me taking the couch if we had to sleep separately."

"As if I'd let you sleep on the couch," Sasuke snorted, dropping the blanket.

"What's wrong with me sleeping on the couch? Not like I haven't done that before," the blond said baffled.

"Naruto, you're not going to sleep on the couch," Sasuke stated and plunged the room in darkness before Naruto could open his mouth again. "If anybody would have to, I would go."

Rolling his eyes in the dark wasn't as effective considering Sasuke wouldn't be able to see it happening, but Naruto still did it and huffed. "Don't know what your issue is with the couch, bastard," he muttered, shuffling deeper underneath the blanket. "It would make more sense for me to sleep on the couch than you."

"No, it wouldn't," Sasuke retorted and pulled Naruto closer to him, wrapping his arm around his stomach. "It doesn't matter anyway, because your mum still lets us sleep together."

"Yeah, my mum's awesome," Naruto sighed, turning around in the Alpha's embrace until his nose was pressed against Sasuke's shoulder. He slung his own arm around Sasuke, enjoying the fact that he could snuggle with him now without having to feel embarrassed about it.

"She is," Sasuke agreed and Naruto stilled when he felt a soft kiss pressed against his forehead. "Good night."

Smiling, Naruto closed his eyes and inhaled the soothing scent surrounding him again, finally after more than a week. "Yeah, good night."

* * *

Mum took him to the doctor's on Tuesday, having been able to snatch an empty slot right on time. It had been snowing the entire morning with no sign of letting up anytime soon and his scarf was still damp by the time the doctor called them inside.

Without beating around the bush, the doctor smirked, "So brat, heard you got yourself a boyfriend, hm?"

"Mum, seriously?" Naruto complained, scowling at her as he plopped down in the left chair.

"What? She'd have figured it out anyway considering I told her we need to change your suppressants," Mum defended herself, placing her purse on her lap. "Why else do you think we managed to get this early appointment?"

"Can't have you producing little brats already, right?" Tsunade's smirk grew and she folded her hands together as she sat back down behind her desk.

Tsunade had been his doctor from the moment he'd started taking the suppressants during his heat. She was a family friend of dad and was mum's doctor as well – the choice to have her as Naruto's doctor too had been quickly made.

"Baa-chan," he whined, flushing slightly.

"Just stating the truth," she chuckled and leant forwards; her large breasts prominent in her shirt. Despite being nearly fifty years old, she still looked really good and she was very aware of that. "Who's the lucky guy?"

"Sasuke, my best friend," he answered and her brown eyes lit up.

"This is how he looks like," Mum said and to his astonishment she promptly showed Tsunade her phone.

"You took a picture of him?" he asked dismayed, trying to snatch the phone away from her. Tsunade was quicker and plucked the mobile out of mum's hand before he could take it, making him huff in annoyance. "When the hell did you do that?"

"Of course I did," Mum replied unrepentantly. "It was last Sunday and you two were watching tv on the couch. You looked so cute together I couldn't resist."

"Oh, you struck gold with this one, kid," Tsunade murmured, sounding admiring. "Damn, first boyfriend and you already got such a looker."

He wrinkled his nose, disliking how she focused on his looks. Sasuke was way more than just his good looks alone.

After she handed the phone back, she turned business like and said briskly, "So, you're here to get new suppressants. You know the differences between the ones you'll be taking now and your old ones?"

"Er." He glanced at mum. "They'll make sure I won't get pregnant?" It came out more question like than he had intended to, but he couldn't think of any other differences at the moment.

"Yes, that's their primary goal," Tsunade smiled, logging onto her computer and selecting his file. "Another difference is that instead of only taking them during your heat, these suppressants need to be taken every day. The pills themselves are divided into three 'regular weeks' and then one week in which your heat will occur. The pills in this last week will contain a heavier dose than the others to make absolutely sure you won't get pregnant should you choose to have sex during your heat."

Ignoring the little squeak that escaped him, she continued, "It's easier if you take them around the same time each day; doing so will build up your routine, making you less likely to forget them. If you forget to take them or if you get sick enough to puke, make sure to use condoms for a while then. Let's see, what else? Oh, right. You can decide whenever you want to start taking them, but know that the first month your body is still adjusting to the new influx of hormones so your heat might come later or earlier and could take a few days longer this time. That's all normal, as your mum will surely know."

Mum nodded and grimaced, obviously remembering her own first experience with this type of suppressants.

"In fact it might take your body a few months in total to adjust. If it takes longer than that, we might have to look into another type of suppressants that your body won't have problems with," she said, typing something. She turned to face him again and the devilish gleam in her eyes made him wary all of a sudden.

"Now, we'll do a small examination, make sure everything is working as it should, but I don't think you'll have any issues. One more question, though."

"What?" he asked guarded, unsure whether he could trust that look in her eyes.

"Have you had sex already?" she asked frankly, _as if mum wasn't sitting right next to him_.

"What the fuck, baa-chan?" he choked out, his cheeks quickly heating up until they felt on fire. What the fuck kind of question was that even?

She shrugged. "If you have, it might be useful if I do an internal examination as well. Otherwise we can leave that until your next visit if you've had sex by then."

"I haven't had sex yet," he replied in a strangled voice, absolutely refusing to look at his mum who, he was pretty sure, was trying to stifle her giggles.

"All right then, a quick examination alone. Follow me and afterwards I'll write you a prescription for your new pills."

"Yay," Naruto said unenthusiastically, not looking forward to getting prodded in the stomach.

_Just think about the sleep overs_ , he told himself as he laid down on the examination table. _Sleeping with Sasuke is worth this_.

"Oh, by the way," mercilessly she rubbed cold gel over his lower stomach, ignoring his hissing, "best not to have sex during the first month of taking your new suppressants unless it's with condoms."

Dropping his head down against the headrest, he reminded himself sternly: _sleep overs_.

* * *

Seeing no need to lie about his new suppressants, Naruto told Sasuke about them a few days later when they saw each other again.

"Your mum is really okay with this, huh?" he remarked; a hint of surprise in his voice.

They were both sitting at Naruto's desk now; the dark haired boy helping him out with some of his assignments which were due next Monday when they would go back to school.

"Yeah, she's definitely okay with this," Naruto replied wryly, his mind flashing back to what mum had told him right after they'd left Tsunade's practice.

" _Look, I'm not going to be one of those parents who freaks about my kid having sex, okay? I'd rather you do it at home and be safe than in some shady hotel or so. Just, you know, keep the door closed and er, if it's possible, try to do it when your dad and I aren't home," she said and cleared her throat, waving her hand wildly around._

" _Oh my god, mum," he groaned, dropping his head in his hands._

" _Just looking out for you, honey!"_

Shaking his head to dispel the memory – he'd had enough embarrassment these past couple of days to last him a lifetime – he glanced at Sasuke, watching him frowning over something he'd written down just now. With an almost miniscule shake of his head, Sasuke erased the part that bothered him and started anew.

Gnawing on his lip, Naruto contemplated how to word his next question. It had been on his mind for a couple of days now and with the end of the break approaching fast he could hardly keep ignoring it.

"What are you thinking about?" Sasuke broke through his musing. His tone was absent and he was still going over what he'd jotted down, but it didn't surprise the Omega that Sasuke had picked up on the fact that he was more distracted than usual.

Even before they became a couple, the dark haired boy had been rather well attuned to Naruto's moods, able to pinpoint every time something was bothering him. It made the blond wonder whether he was really such an open book.

"I was just wondering …" he hesitated for a moment, fiddling with his sleeves before he sighed. "I was wondering whether you want to keep this a secret at school? That we're together, I mean?"

He hadn't told dad yet, but that was mainly because he was awaiting the right moment. Their classmates, however, were a completely different matter. Sure, he was only close with Kiba and to some extent even Shikamaru, but he wasn't so daft as to not realise that his relationship with Sasuke would have a great impact on the class as a whole. The girls in his class had envied him from the start, because he'd actually been able to get to know Sasuke better; something which they still hadn't managed to do after all these years.

Then there was the fact that a lot of girls harboured crushes on the dark haired Alpha and Naruto couldn't help but worry a bit how they would react once they found out that their dream guy was no longer on the market.

Leaning back into the chair, Sasuke threw him a thoughtful look. "I'm not planning on keeping us a secret," he said and grimaced slightly. "That said, I don't think it's anyone's business either what we do with each other."

"No, I agree," Naruto said and shuddered as he imagined the various vicious ways the girls in their class could react towards the news. He didn't think they would be very happy once they found out just who was dating Sasuke. "So just act like we always do?"

"If you want to make a big announcement, you can," Sasuke said amused. "Don't let me stop you."

"Nah, don't need an announcement," Naruto grinned and pressed their shoulders together. "They'll find out on their own."

And the longer it took them to find out the truth, the longer he could enjoy being with Sasuke without being pestered by others. A win-win situation really.

* * *

They ended their break with a visit to the temple to celebrate the new year.

Naruto's parents had gone earlier; the both of them early risers. Sasuke was more of an early riser as well and most likely would have visited the temple as early as mum and dad if Naruto hadn't made it very clear to him the night before that he would regret it if he even considered the idea of waking up the blond at an ungodly hour.

Sasuke's compromise was to wake him up at nine so they could be at the temple by ten. Naruto had considered protesting that particular compromise, but the other boy had promised to take him out for ramen later and well, he couldn't say no to that, could he?

So here he stood now, surrounded by families, couples and groups of friends; all gathered for their annual visit to the temple.

When Naruto straightened out from his bow, he felt a gloved hand slip around his own, warmth radiating even through the two layers, and he smiled, squeezing Sasuke's hand softly.

As they slowly made their way down the hill, chilly wind biting their cheeks, Sasuke's hand was warm and steady in his; their fingers laced together.

A new year had started; Naruto couldn't wait to find out what it had in store for him and Sasuke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN2: So yes, here ends part 1 - this story has so many part one's and two's, oh my god - and I hope it didn't come across as rushed! The next part should be posted soon, so keep an eye on that one!
> 
> Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot a mistake, please point them out to me.
> 
> See you all back soon in the next part!
> 
> Cuddles
> 
> Melissa


	7. Joining Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: Apologies for the delay! This chapter turned out to be way, way, way longer than I anticipated. This is literally two chapters combined, holy shit. So yes, extra long chapter; I hope this makes up for the wait!
> 
> If you haven't read the previous chapter yet, I suggest you do that first before tackling this one LOL
> 
> Warnings: Some fluff; mature content; I think that's all for this chapter.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
> 
> I hope you'll like this!

_7 Joining Part 2_

The new and last trimester of the school year had Kiba showing up with a black eye and a split lip. He practically scuttled in the classroom, slumping into his seat next to Naruto.

"What the hell happened to you?" Naruto exclaimed incredulously, drawing several other stares to them.

"Keep your voice down," Kiba hissed and winced, patting his lip carefully.

"A run in with Hyuuga?" Sasuke inquired mildly. He was leaning against their desk with his arms crossed, ignoring the stares of Yamanaka and Haruno; his two biggest fangirls as Kiba had once sneered.

"He got me two days ago," Kiba muttered. "Hinata-chan and I thought he had already left when I came to pick her up for our date, but clearly that wasn't the case."

"You still got your balls?" Naruto asked lightly, eyeing the bruised skin sympathetically. That one had to hurt badly.

"Barely," Kiba groaned, grabbing his notebook and his pencase. "He threatened to rip them off if I don't leave Hinata-chan alone."

"Not that you're planning on doing that." Shikamaru joined their small group, nodding in greeting at Sasuke.

Kiba scoffed. "Like hell will I let some arrogant arsehole get between me and my girlfriend."

"Your funeral," Sasuke shrugged.

"Not asking for your input, Uchiha," the Beta boy said snippily and Shikamaru sighed.

"He's right, though. You're playing with fire."

"Look, whose side are you even on?"

Before Shikamaru could reply, the door swung open once more and Morino strode inside; his intimidating presence shutting up everyone effectively and they all hurried to their seats. Sasuke trailed his fingers briefly across Naruto's arm before returning to his own desk, not in a hurry like everyone else.

Morino surveyed them carefully from behind his desk. "First of all, I wish you the best in this new year. With that out of the way, please pass your assignments to the front. You've had two weeks to finish them, so I expect no excuses."

Judging by the way some faces paled, it was clear that not everyone had used those two weeks to actually complete their homework.

Naruto was so glad he didn't share their fate; Morino was not an easy teacher at all. They were shit out of luck once Morino found out they hadn't completed their assignments. Better them than him, though.

* * *

He didn't think they were that subtle.

Sure, they didn't stick their tongues in each other's mouth in plain view of everyone, but it wasn't as if they behaved strictly like friends only either. Sasuke had joined the lunch table Naruto occasionally shared with Kiba, Shikamaru and Chouji, so the blond wouldn't have to alternate between two tables anymore. Their casual touches had become more frequent now; Naruto would hug Sasuke's shoulders when he was reading a book during their breaks and Sasuke's fingers often slid over the Omega's neck, down to his back and over his arms.

They sometimes kissed during breaks, chaste ones that left Naruto grinning and a faint smile curling up Sasuke's lips. More often than not they showed up together and left with each other; Sasuke spending more time at the blond's place than at his own house.

Their scents had become so entwined already that it had become harder to separate them; something Naruto had been sure of would tip off the others that he and Sasuke were more than friends alone.

Only Shikamaru seemed to have some kind of inkling; he sometimes looked at them speculatively, but he didn't say anything. Either he wasn't sure yet or he'd just decided it wasn't any of his business; both possibilities were equally likely.

Given how smitten Kiba was with Hinata, despite Neji's threat, it wasn't surprising that he hadn't noticed anything different between Naruto and Sasuke. Who did manage to surprise Naruto, however, were the girls. He'd been so sure they would notice immediately something had changed, considering how obsessive some of them were when it concerned Sasuke, but they didn't seem to realise anything was amiss.

Naruto decided to enjoy that particular reprieve while it lasted.

* * *

"Naruto, you okay?"

Sasuke's worried voice drifted through the wooden door of the bathroom, very audible now that the rush of students hurrying to their next class was fading away.

Naruto should be joining them now, go to his literature class together with Sasuke, but instead he was stuck in the bathroom, his stomach cramping and feeling too warm, like he'd been bending over the stove for a long time.

Pressing his arms tightly against his stomach he leant forwards, hoping the pressure would help a bit. It didn't do much and he squeezed his eyes shut, resisting the urge to scream in frustration.

_How the hell was it possible that he would get his heat twice at school?!_

Unlike the first time he recognised the tell-tale signs much quicker and he'd quickly made his way into one of the stalls, not wanting to catch anyone's attention – like last time. Shuddering with revulsion at that awful memory, he opened his eyes again and stared blankly at the floor, breathing out slowly. The cramps had subsided finally, but he didn't dare to move yet.

He knew he couldn't stay forever in the bathroom, though. He'd have to get out of here and soon, so that he could go home and spend the rest of his heat there. Actually getting his body to move, however, was a whole different matter.

 _I really should have expected something like this to happen_ , he thought miserably. He'd been taking his new suppressants for a bit more than a month and now, one week into February, his body had apparently decided it was finally time for his heat to break through.

Did it really have to be at school, though? Why couldn't it just have waited until he was home?

"Naruto, talk to me," Sasuke demanded; his voice much closer now than before.

Taking a deep breath, he slowly rose up, cursing when he felt slick dribbling from between his cheeks. God, this sucked _so fucking much_.

Opening the door a bit, he peeked through the crack. "My, er, my heat started," he admitted quietly and swallowed.

"What?" There was the audible sound of sniffing before Sasuke uttered softly, "Oh. I can take you home, if you want? Or do you want to call your mum and have her pick you up?"

He mulled over his options, trying to decide which one would be less embarrassing. He could go with Sasuke and suffer through the humiliation of filling up the car with his heat scent – and probably staining the seat with his slick as well if it got really bad – or he could wait for his mum, which could take a while depending on where she was, leaving him stuck in the bathroom for god knew how long.

Not much of a choice there.

"If – if you don't mind, can you take me home? It's just, I don't know when mum can pick me up," he said rushed, reddening.

"Sure, no problem. Er, here, I got something that might help you," Sasuke said, surprisingly awkward and then a small, thin, dark blue package appeared through the crack in the door.

Taking it, Naruto stared at it bemused. "You carry around slick pads?" he couldn't help but question incredulously. He thought only Omega carried those around. It helped capture the slick so that the underwear wouldn't stain, but to be honest he wasn't a big fan of it. It felt too much like a diaper to him, making him feel even more uncomfortable than he was already, so he tended to forego those and just refresh his underwear as much as possible during his heats.

"Obviously."

Awkwardness seemed to have quickly made place for dry humour, which only spurred the Omega on. "Since when are you carrying these pads?"

"Ever since you got your heat here at school," Sasuke stated matter-of-factly. "I figured if it happened again, you might want one of these just in case. I don't know how many times you need to replace a pad, so I figured I would keep one in my bag as a spare."

He shuffled with his feet. "I … did some reading and apparently those pads aren't really popular? Some Omega like it, some don't and I didn't know what you think of them, but." He sounded a bit uncertain but went on before Naruto could say something, "You don't have to wear it, of course, it's your choice, but I thought you might be worried about, er, about leaking through your clothes, so yes." He cleared his throat and this time he sounded embarrassed when he said, "I'll wait in the hallway, okay? Take as long as you need."

His footsteps echoed through the bathroom, the door swinging shut behind him, cloaking the room in silence once more.

Sasuke kept a slick pad with him as a spare. Just in case Naruto ever needed one. He'd been carrying the thing around ever since Naruto's heat at school, long before they'd become actual friends and a lot longer before they had become boyfriends.

Awe filled him and a surge of affection for the dark haired boy welled up in him, making his fingers clench around the thin package, crinkling the plastic. Biting down on his lip to suppress a smile, he flipped the package back and forth. He'd known before that Sasuke was quite thoughtful, but to be so thoughtful as to carry a slick pad around just in case Naruto was ever in need of it? He didn't think many people would do that, let alone other Alpha.

Damn, he'd really lucked out with Sasuke as his boyfriend, hadn't he?

* * *

Poking his head through the gap, he looked around, perking up slightly when he spotted Sasuke leaning against the lockers across the corridor, his own bag slung over his shoulder and Naruto's bag resting at his feet. Right, he'd just tossed it to the floor before dashing into the bathroom; he was lucky someone else hadn't swiped it off the floor.

The pad felt thick and weird between his legs, but it helped counter his fear of staining the seat in Sasuke's car, so he'd put up with the odd sensation until he got home.

The Alpha's scent hit him like a freight train the moment he stepped outside the bathroom; the odour of cleaning products no longer obstructing his sense of smell. He inhaled the scent greedily, his stomach cramping in a slightly different way now, and licked his lips, quickly crossing the distance between them.

Black eyes landed on him instantly. "You ready?" Sasuke asked; his gaze flitting across Naruto's body quickly. He stilled when Naruto pressed himself up against his body, swallowing when the Omega dragged his nose across his neck.

"You smell good," Naruto murmured, overcome with the sudden desire to press himself even closer to the Alpha, but this time without clothes so he could feel the other's naked skin against his; those smooth, supple muscles moving underneath his …

"You smell better," Sasuke countered and the compliment jarred Naruto for a moment, long enough for him to realise that they were still in a school corridor and this was definitely _not the place to get freaky, fuck._

Flushing brightly, he took a few hasty steps back and, avoiding those dark eyes, he snatched his bag off the floor. "Sorry about that. Can we – can we leave now?" He looked away, mortified that he'd been about to hump Sasuke in the middle of a corridor.

"Sure," Sasuke said easily and then slender fingers wrapped around his wrist. "Come on, I'll take you home, okay?"

The Omega nodded and let himself be led through the hallways and through the doors, all his focus aimed at the warmth surrounding his right wrist and Sasuke's scent which seemed to grow thicker the longer he concentrated on it.

He blinked when he was pushed into the car, wondered how he'd missed the entire walk between the school and the parking lot, and then promptly spaced out when heavy Alpha scent surrounded him, cradling him like a blanket. He'd never realised before how saturated the car was with Sasuke's scent, but it made sense, of course. It was his car after all, naturally everything would be completely drenched in his essence.

It settled something in him, made the next cramp a little more bearable, especially when Sasuke slipped behind the wheel and briefly caressed his cheek.

"You doing okay?" Black eyes searched his face, worry lurking in the depths of them.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," Naruto muttered, blinking slowly.

Sasuke didn't look entirely convinced, but settled back in his chair and started the car; the gentle purr of the motor doing weird things to Naruto's inside.

The actual journey to his house was nothing but a blur, his mind not focusing on anything but the Alpha right next to him, the one who was taking care of him now, who smelt so wonderfully, who was so strong yet gentle, so incredibly handsome …

And somehow he was all Naruto's, just like Naruto was his, and he really, really couldn't wait to show the older boy just how much he wanted to be _his_. Completely Alpha's, no one else, oh no. Only Alpha was allowed to touch him, to kiss him, to fill him up completely …

He'd be so good, he'd do anything Alpha wanted him to do; he'd make sure to make Alpha feel so very good. He wasn't experienced, but that only meant he could learn how to please his mate really well, didn't it? Alpha could teach him what he liked and what he didn't, and Naruto would do his best, he promised!

"Naruto, we're here." Sasuke's strangled voice ripped straight through the daze he'd fallen under, jarring him.

Blue eyes blinked, gaining some awareness back and the boy frowned when he noticed the pinched look on Sasuke's face – the reason for which became clear when he looked down and saw his hand resting dangerously close to Sasuke's crotch.

"Oh fuck, I'm sorry!" he blurted out, snatching his hand back and feeling absolutely mortified at basically having been copping a feel in the damn car.

God, what the fuck was wrong with him today? He'd never acted like this before!

"It's fine," Sasuke brought out, looking like he was doing his utmost best not to breathe.

That only made the shame burn fiercer when Naruto realised he was basically stinking up the car with his heat pheromones. Oh hell, could the day get any worse?

"Come on, I'll help you get inside." He shut off the engine and undid his seatbelt.

"No, that's not necessary!" Naruto protested, but Sasuke was already out of the car, making his way around it to his side. Fumbling with his own seatbelt, he got it undone right before the door opened.

His knees buckled when he got out of the car and only Sasuke's quick interference prevented him from meeting the ground with his face. The cold air stung his heated skin and he shivered, slipping his hands underneath Sasuke's jacket, feeling his stomach tense underneath his touch.

"Your keys are in your pocket?" Sasuke asked, still wearing that pinched look, and Naruto wondered how badly his pheromones were affecting the dark haired boy.

He hadn't looked very affected the first time he'd encountered Naruto in heat, but then again during that time they hadn't been that close – and they certainly hadn't been boyfriends yet.

Maybe he should have waited for his mum after all.

"Naruto? Your keys," Sasuke repeated patiently, still basically holding all of Naruto's weight.

"Oh, er, yeah, in my pocket," Naruto muttered, shaking his head, but a fog seemed to descend over him and he was having a hard time thinking straight.

He almost purred when he felt fingers dipping into his back pocket, but the touch was gone before he could even think of pressing into it and then Sasuke tugged him alone, one arm wrapped around his waist, and unlocked the front door, practically dragging the Omega inside.

The sound of a lock engaging barely registered in Naruto's mind as he pressed himself up against Sasuke, sticking his face in his neck and inhaling that enticing woodsy scent. Fire spread out from the pit of his belly to the rest of his body, making his nerves tingle and the desire to touch the other boy, to kiss him, to find out just how he tasted, rose to dangerous heights, reaching the point where the blond wanted nothing more for those stupid clothes to come off.

Seriously, why were they still wearing clothes? They were home now, they didn't need to hold back anymore. They should be getting naked now. Didn't the Alpha know how wet he already was for him?

"All right, let's get you into the bathtub," Sasuke announced abruptly; his cheeks stained a deep red for some reason.

Blue eyes blinked languidly. "Don't you mean the bed?"

"No, I definitely mean the bath," Sasuke said curtly and took a few steps back, grabbing Naruto's hand instead. "Come on, you'll feel better once you've taken a bath."

"Are you going to take one with me?" Naruto asked naively. He wasn't sure how that would work out exactly, but the Alpha would know what to do, right?

Sasuke made a weird choking noise; his footsteps heavy on the staircase. "No, I'm not taking one with you, Naruto. That wouldn't be a good idea."

"I think it'd be a good idea," Naruto informed him, but the older boy ignored him until they were in the bathroom.

Pushing the blond in the direction of the shower, he muttered, "Here, take a quick shower while I prepare your bath. Is there anything you like to drink during your heat?"

"Soda? I probably should drink water, though," Naruto admitted and pulled a face. Mum insisted he should keep hydrated during his heats, especially because he tended to sweat a lot, but eugh, water just didn't have any taste.

"Okay, I'll get some bottles and put them in your room. You, take a shower and then get in the bathtub," Sasuke demanded, pointing to the shower first before jerking his thumb at the tub. Several thick, fluffy towels were waiting for the blond on the sink and Sasuke was gone before Naruto could even turn around.

Shrugging, he stripped off his clothes and decided to do what Sasuke told him for once. The quicker he got out of the bath, the quicker he and Sasuke could go to his bedroom.

* * *

A part of him was disappointed to find out that Sasuke was still completely clothed when he walked into his bedroom half an hour later. The bath had felt more soothing than he'd expected it to be and he'd lingered in the cool water for a while before heaving himself out of it.

Somewhere during his stay in the bath, his old clothes had disappeared, replaced by a fresh change of clothes: a large light blue shirt and dark, loose sweatpants, together with some underwear. He'd pulled them on; a small part of him wondering whether Sasuke wanted to undress him himself.

The odd fog persisted, turning everything dreamlike. His stomach cramped every now and then, but the intensity had lessened significantly and absently he wondered whether the decrease in his cramps was caused by his new suppressants.

Sasuke was putting some snacks down on the nightstand when Naruto crossed the doorstep, but he turned around at once; his gaze flicking over Naruto's body.

"You feeling a bit better?" he questioned, taking a step away from the bed. His jacket was resting on the back of the chair and had he changed his sweater?

Yeah, he had to have, because Naruto distinctly remembered him wearing a dark green sweater over the shirt of their uniform and now he was wearing a soft white one; one he'd left behind here some weeks ago.

"Hm, a bit," Naruto muttered, blinking owlishly.

A quick smile flitted across pale rose lips before Sasuke beckoned him closer. "You want to lie down? Or what do you do when you have your heat?" He looked adorably confused; despite his earlier research he clearly was out of his depth now that he was confronted with an actual Omega in heat.

"You could lie down with me in the bed?" Naruto suggested hopefully, drawing closer to the Alpha. He was hard pressed to resist the pull he felt between them, the one that urged him to get as close to the dark haired Alpha as possible, to feel his body entwined with his.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Naruto," Sasuke said quietly.

Hurt flared up and Naruto halted abruptly. "You don't want me?" he asked in a small voice, wondering what he'd done wrong that his own mate didn't want him. Wasn't he good enough for him? If Alpha would tell him what was wrong, he could try to fix it!

"Naruto, trust me, I do want you," Sasuke replied, his gaze so intense it made Naruto squirm underneath it. "More than you can even imagine. But I don't want our first time to happen during your heat, okay? Not when you're incoherent and not able to consent properly."

"But I trust you," Naruto said confused. He knew the other one wouldn't ever hurt him. If he really wanted him so much, why didn't he do anything? He was so confusing!

"That's – that's good, but we're still not going to do it," Sasuke said firmly, even though his gaze lingered longer on the Omega's body longer than usual. Clearing his throat, he ran his hand through his hair. "Why don't you try to get some rest? I called your mum and she'll be home soon."

"I don't want you to go," Naruto said petulantly, balling his hands into fists. "I want you to stay."

"That's not a good idea, Naruto, trust me."

"Why not?"

"Because I can barely hold myself back now. Your scent is driving me crazy and it's taking everything in me not to rip your clothes off and push you down on the bed," Sasuke said bluntly, his nostrils flaring.

Naruto's mouth dropped open, taken aback by the frank answer. Reddening, he glanced away. "Oh."

"So I need to leave now, before we both are going to do things we'll regret," Sasuke said and while he sounded calm, his whole body was tense.

Swallowing, he peeked up through his eyelashes. "Can't – can't you at least stay a bit longer? Just – just until mum's home? I don't want to be alone now," he said quietly.

Sasuke nodded slowly. "I can do that. You want to rest?"

"Yeah." Shuffling to the bed, it took everything in him not to reach out and plaster himself against Sasuke's body again.

What Sasuke had said, made sense of course, but frustration started brimming in him; his nails digging into the vulnerable flesh of his palms. Every cell in his body longed to be touched, to be caressed by the Alpha watching him silently and the heat in his belly worsened, turning his legs into jelly. His strength suddenly deserting him, he fell down heavily on the bed; his breathing quickening as the combined scent of Omega Alpha hit him like a slap in the face.

Crawling further into the bed, his fingers grazed against something soft and warm. Pulling it from underneath the blankets, he stilled when he saw what he held up: Sasuke's sweater.

"You said my scent helped you last time, so I thought you'd like my sweater," Sasuke said, crossing his arms; the tips of his ears tinted pink. "What do you think?"

In response Naruto immediately pulled it over his head, inhaling deeply when the Alpha's scent surrounded him like a cloud, drowning him in it. It tempered the heat in his stomach a bit, but he needed something else, something more.

Snuggling deeper into his bed, he held out his hand and pleaded, "Can you lie down with me?"

"Naruto, I told you - "

"We don't have to do anything. You can just sit down if you want," Naruto hastened to say, latching onto the little speck of hesitation in dark eyes. "Please, Sasuke?"

"For a little while," Sasuke gave in after a moment and sat down on the bed, keeping a small distance between them.

Naruto started closing that annoying distance, but one warning look from the older boy made him huff and he stilled, pulling his hands up so his nose was pushed into a sleeve of Sasuke's sweater.

Cloaked in the Alpha's smell, it didn't take long before he felt like he was floating, nothing anchoring him anymore except for the Alpha's presence radiating warmth next to him.

"Thanks, Sasuke," he slurred, eyes drooping, and he relaxed.

A soft sigh resounded above him. "Yeah, no problem."

At one point a warm hand covered his, lacing their fingers together, and it made Naruto's heart skip a bit. The scent of pure Alpha was intoxicating and he wondered whether this was how being drunk felt like.

If Sasuke would just lean a bit closer, lie down besides him, they'd be able to feel each other so much better … His Alpha could touch him properly then, map out every inch of his skin, feel just how ready Naruto was for him. Just the thought of those strong hands manhandling him, pressing him down into the mattress while his own legs would cradle the Alpha's body, their hips pressing together, gyrating while they kissed …

It was enough to make him even wetter and he squirmed underneath the heavy blankets, panting slightly, feeling feverish all of a sudden. He just needed Sasuke to touch him, to feel his hands on him, show him how much he wanted him; anything that would quell this raging inferno inside him that seemed intent on liquifying his organs. Just one little touch wouldn't be that bad, no?

Just a bit and then he'd be okay again, he'd be good. Something that would take the edge off his heat, that would help him feel clearer. Surely that was not much to ask for, no?

A whimper escaped him when the weight on his bed abruptly left, leaving his fingers to grasp uselessly at air.

"Sasuke?" But there wasn't any answer and he curled up underneath the blankets, figuring Sasuke might have left to grab something. His mate would be back soon, he was sure.

He was asleep before he could discover whether he was right.

* * *

The next couple of days of his heat were spent feeling miserable and too hot and lonely.

He hated feeling like he was missing something, like there was a gaping hole dug out by Sasuke's absence. The sweater helped somewhat, but it was nothing compared to actually having the other boy with him in close proximity.

He understood why Sasuke wasn't able to stay, okay? Sasuke himself had admitted that his scent was too strong, that he wouldn't be able to hold himself back if he stayed with Naruto any longer, but that didn't make him any less miserable. He wanted his boyfriend with him, wanted to feel his arms wrapped around him, his scent lulling him to sleep.

The sweater was nothing but a poor substitute now that he knew how the real thing felt like.

Not to mention how _horny_ he felt. Sure, that was nothing new to him – kind of came with the territory of having heats – but it had never been this bad before. It was like a never ending itch he just couldn't scratch and his hand did nothing to relieve him.

_God, being in heat fucking sucked._

When his heat finally ebbed away, he was beyond cranky. His brain no longer muddled by the hormones, he was unfortunately reminded that he'd basically groped Sasuke in his car a couple of days ago, which only made the mixture of frustration and embarrassment more potent.

He couldn't believe he'd actually groped his boyfriend! What the hell had been wrong with him?

Stewing and wondering how on earth he'd be able to look Sasuke in the eyes again after that particular incident, it took him a moment to realise dad was waiting in the doorway. Faking a smile, he turned around after wrestling his head through his sweater.

"Dad?"

"You feeling better?" the older blond asked sympathetically, leaning against the doorjamb.

The Omega had barely seen him the past couple of days, having holed himself up in his room. His mum had popped by to make sure he ate and drank enough, but dad tended to stay away for those days after that one incident several years ago in which Naruto's frustration had boiled over to the point of him throwing a book in his dad's direction. Dad hadn't really done anything wrong back then, aside from being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Nevertheless after that incident, the Alpha had decided it was safer for him to stay clear from his son.

"A bit. I took a shower," Naruto replied, sitting down on his bed to slip on some socks.

Sasuke's sweater had joined the rest of his sweat soaked clothes in the hamper; he'd give it to him back once it had been washed.

"Your mum said you had a harder time than usual," Dad mentioned cautiously; his forehead creased into a light frown.

"Yeah," Naruto muttered, grimacing, but didn't go into details. He didn't think dad would want to hear how badly his son had wanted to get fucked by his boyfriend – the boyfriend he still didn't know about.

"You heard from Sasuke-kun?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, yesterday; asking me how I was holding up."

Dad hummed and sat backwards in the chair, folding his arms on top of the back of it. "He brought you home when your heat started."

"Ah? Yeah, he did. Mum told you?" Naruto asked surprised. He had a vague recollection of Sasuke telling him he had called mum after he'd brought the blond home.

"No, I saw him when I came home," Dad smiled wryly. "Your mum was filling in the last documents needed to start working at the station, so she sent me instead until she could come home."

"Oh." Naruto blinked, leaning back on his hands. "She's going to start soon?"

"Yeah, next week," the older man confirmed.

"Sweet!" Naruto grinned and clapped his hands. "I'm glad everything worked out!"

"Yeah, we're happy too," Dad smiled before he grew serious again. "Apparently Sasuke-kun had locked the door after he brought you home."

"He did?" Naruto furrowed his eyebrows, looking at the ceiling as he tried to remember it. Sasuke had used his keys to open the front door, he recalled, but he wasn't sure whether he'd locked it afterwards.

Huh. Oh well, not like it mattered much.

Shrugging, he said, "He might have; I didn't pay much attention to it. What's wrong with locking the front door?"

"Nothing much," Dad allowed; his own blue eyes glittering peculiarly. "It was rather surprising, however, to have him snapping at me that I wasn't allowed to check up on you. He was even blocking the staircase; wouldn't leave until your mum came home."

"Huh." Naruto didn't know how to react to that. He hadn't heard anything of that particular confrontation, but maybe he'd been asleep by then?

Why would Sasuke snap at his dad, though? The dark haired boy was always very polite towards Naruto's parents, not even referring to them with their first names despite being reassured that he was allowed. What had happened to cause Sasuke to be rude all of a sudden?

"Look, Naruto, I know I'm not the most observant at times when it comes to you and your mum," Dad began and the unexpected solemn look set Naruto on edge, "but I'm not this stupid or oblivious. You and Sasuke-kun – what's going on between you two?"

Well, he could hardly keep quiet about it any longer now. That wouldn't be fair on his dad. Still, he had hoped he would have this particular conversation in another setting, say downstairs in the kitchen or the living room or so with his mum nearby.

Not in his room, without his mum, and right after his heat when he was still feeling somewhat groggy.

"Sasuke and I … we've been together since Christmas," Naruto admitted reluctantly.

"Since Christmas," Dad echoed and blinked. A speculative look passed over his face. "But you're still having sleep overs."

"Mum gave the okay for it," Naruto hastily replied, before the older blond could think Sasuke had somehow been sneaking inside every night. "And only on the condition that I would take those new suppressants."

Dad squinted. "Well, at least you're being safe," he muttered, scratching his five o'clock shadow.

"We're not doing anything of that sort!" Naruto blurted out, waving his hands wildly. "Trust me! We just sleep!"

"Relax," Dad sighed, dragging a hand over his face. "I'm not mad at you."

"You're not?"

"No, would be pointless anyway. You've been together for nearly two months so far, so it'd be a moot point to get angry about the sleep overs now. That and I don't want to piss off your mum," Dad snorted.

"You're really not mad?" Naruto eyed him cautiously, rather thrown off by the calm way his dad was accepting his relationship. He'd expected a bit more sputtering at the very least to be honest.

"No, I'm not. You could have done worse than Sasuke-kun," Dad stated and shrugged. "It might have taken me a while to realise there's more between the two of you than just friendship, but my instinct about people still works perfectly and I know that kid is a good guy. I know he won't hurt you."

"No, he won't," Naruto smiled softly, flicking his eyes down to his lap. Sure, he'd been grumbling about Sasuke before, because he certainly hadn't made his heat easier, but now, without the heat muddling his brain, he had to admit he was glad Sasuke had kept a clear head. He wouldn't have wanted his first time to be during his heat when he barely could remember anything.

When he finally took that step with Sasuke, he wanted to remember everything about it.

"I'm not mad, but I just wished you'd told me about your relationship sooner," Dad remarked, stretching his legs. "Why didn't you tell me about it? Did you honestly think I would get angry about it?"

"No, I – I don't know what I thought," Naruto said honestly and looked up. "Sasuke's my first boyfriend and I just … didn't know how you would react. I was waiting for the right moment, I guess."

"I assume the right moment wasn't when you were in heat and your boyfriend felt like he needed to protect you," Dad said dryly.

Naruto grimaced, sticking his hands underneath his thighs. "No, not really. I'm sorry about that, by the way. I didn't know Sasuke would react like that. I'm sure he's sorry about it too."

"Don't worry about it." Dad waved away his apology. "He's an Alpha; his instincts were just going haywire with you in heat, I get it. I've reacted like that as well when other Alpha came too close to your mum's room during college. Trust me, Sasuke-kun showed more restraint than I did back then."

Wrinkling his nose, Naruto said, "Well, that's good, I guess."

With a soft groan, dad stood up and went over to the bed, sinking down on it next to his son. "I want you to know, Naruto, that no matter what, you can always talk to me, okay? Whether it's about your classes, your boyfriend, worries you have … No matter what, you can tell me."

Leaning against dad's shoulder, Naruto nodded. "I know, dad. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Sasuke sooner."

"It's fine." Dad slung his arm around his shoulders, hugging him firmly. After a short pause, he added, "Just to be clear, though, I know Sasuke-kun won't hurt you, but if he ever does, he won't like what I'll do to him."

"Are you seriously threatening my boyfriend, dad?" Naruto asked incredulously, lifting his head to stare at him.

Dad smirked and squeezed his shoulder. "The perks of being a dad, Naruto. I have the privilege of threatening your boyfriend. Not doing so would mean I'm not doing my job as a dad very well."

"And we can't have that," Naruto snorted. "Although I think you'll have to share that privilege with mum."

Dad pursed his lips before nodding his assent. "Yeah, I guess so. Well, in that case better warn Sasuke-kun that he'll have to be extra careful, otherwise he'll have two parents to deal with."

"I don't think that will be necessary," Naruto said with a nervous chuckle. If there was one thing he could count on, it was that Sasuke would never hurt him. The fact that he hadn't even attempted to touch Naruto during his heat, despite the blond practically begging for it, was more than proof enough he would never harm him.

"All right, I have to go to work now. Why don't you invite Sasuke-kun over for dinner tonight?" Dad suggested and stood up. "If you're feeling up to it, anyway."

"What, like those official 'meet the parents' dinner kind of thing?" Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Sure, if you want to think of it like that," Dad grinned. "I'll see you tonight, kiddo."

"Yeah, be safe, dad."

"Always am," Dad reassured him. "Your mum's waiting downstairs with waffles by the way."

"Why didn't you say this earlier?!"

* * *

"You okay again?" Sasuke asked concerned when Naruto opened the door that afternoon.

He'd opted to stay home for today to get rid of the last grogginess and would go back to school tomorrow. With his heat officially being over, though, it was once again 'safe' for Sasuke to stop by.

Meaning now was the moment for Naruto to apologise for his behaviour on Friday.

Smiling awkwardly, Naruto reached up to kiss him. "Hey, yeah, I'm fine."

Sasuke stepped inside, removing his scarf, coat and shoes in almost one fluent move. The guy was so gracious all the damn time, it made Naruto somewhat jealous.

Closing the door, he leant against it, watching Sasuke stuff his feet inside the slippers. "Look, I'm sorry for the way I behaved last Friday," he blurted out, cheeks stinging red. "I don't know what came over me. I shouldn't have - "

He was cut off by Sasuke reaching out to draw him in another kiss, his fingers slipping through golden blond strands. "Hey, it's okay. Honestly, it's kind of my fault, anyway," he said chagrined when he pulled back. "I didn't think about it at first, but I did some research when I got back at Kakashi's place and several forums mentioned that heats affect Omega more if their partner is close to them. So you know, it's partly my fault that you reacted like that. Should have looked that one up sooner, but it slipped my mind before."

"Oh." Naruto pressed his lips together, mulling it over. He had thought it had something to do with the suppressants he was taking now, that they made him more sensitive. He would never have guessed that having Sasuke close to him would set him off like that.

Guess that was a lesson learnt for next time. "So, er, we're cool?"

Lifting an eyebrow, Sasuke questioned, "You think I was mad because you tried to seduce me?" His tone was equally incredulous as it was mocking and Naruto narrowed his eyes, slapping his arm.

"Don't say it like that. That sounds weird," he huffed, crossing his arms.

"What, you seducing me? What's so weird about that?" Sasuke's voice lowered and he took another step closer, crowding the blond against the door. His hands landed on Naruto's hips, thumbs slipping underneath his shirt.

Flushing, Naruto pouted. "I wasn't trying to seduce you." The words barely fell over his lips, feeling foreign on his tongue. Him and seducing in one sentence? Sasuke had probably bumped his head against the wall one too many time when he was little.

"No?" Black eyes glinted and his cool hands slid underneath Naruto's shirt completely; his smirk widening when he felt Naruto shiver, his stomach muscles tensing up. "I'd say you were doing a pretty good job of it. You made it really difficult for me to resist you."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Naruto deflected, but his cheeks grew warmer, betraying him.

"You don't know? Well, I can always help jog your - "

"Naruto, is that Sasuke-kun?"

The way Sasuke jumped away so quickly as if he was burnt, his eyes widening, had Naruto snickering; the loaded atmosphere between them instantly shattered to pieces.

"Yeah, mum, it's Sasuke!" he called back before she would come into the hallway to investigate.

"You couldn't tell me sooner your mum's home?" Sasuke hissed at him, looking affronted.

The blond smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Ehehehe, I kind of forgot mum's here."

"You forgot your mum's home?" Sasuke asked incredulously before swiftly turning around and greeting mum with a small smile. "Good afternoon, Uzumaki-san."

"How many times do I have to tell you that just 'Kushina' is fine, Sasuke-kun?" Mum said amused, resting her hands on her hips. Jerking her head to the kitchen, she asked, "You want some hot chocolate before you and Naruto start on your homework?"

"Sure, sounds good," Sasuke agreed easily and she clapped her hands, smiling widely.

"All right, follow me then!"

"Seriously, how could you forget your mum's here?" Sasuke whispered, narrowing his eyes.

"Ever considered that maybe you're just distracting?" Naruto quipped, grinning when the dark haired boy reared back.

He so did enjoy the times he could render Sasuke speechless.

* * *

Dinner that night, the unofficial official meeting the parents one, went off without a hitch. As if there had been any doubt about that.

Dad did subtly threaten Sasuke, but to be quite honest, Naruto thought Sasuke had to fear mum more than dad, given her fiery temper.

Judging by the sneaky glances Sasuke shot mum throughout the evening, the Alpha agreed with him.

* * *

Something changed between them after Naruto's heat.

It was subtle, a tension which lingered between the two of them, growing whenever they kissed, making their touches linger and them more reluctant to part. It hung unspoken between them, but Naruto saw it every time he looked into heated black eyes, felt it in the way fingers burned a path over his skin, tracing meanings in it only the other boy understood.

It was there in the dark when they pressed their bodies against each other, their shirts rucked up and their bare stomachs touching. In the way their breath hitched and their hips stuttered, hands fumbling underneath the cover of the blankets.

Present in the way every nerve in Naruto's body sang when Sasuke touched him, caressed his chest and stomach, flicked thumbs over his nipples until they turned into pebbles, sensitive to the Alpha's ministrations. Something that made his thighs squeeze down around Sasuke's legs, muscles trembling as their mouths met over and over again.

They saw each other fully naked a month later, a day after Naruto had had his heat.

This evening they were at Sasuke's place where Naruto would stay the night. Both his parents had the night shift and they had felt better knowing there would be an adult looking over the two boys.

That was why Naruto would be sleeping at Sasuke's home for tonight – the first time since they'd started spending the night together.

They had endured some teasing remarks from Kakashi; the older man still highly amused for some reason that Sasuke was in a relationship now. His ribbing had lasted until Sasuke had thrown the remote at his head, barking at him to shut up before he'd throw his precious porn books in the trash.

That had made for a very effective threat, leaving the silver haired man pouting in his armchair.

Sasuke's bedroom was rather sober with just a bed, a nightstand, a wardrobe, a desk with a chair, and a bookcase. The bookcase was filled to the brim except for the shelf in the middle, where two pictures had taken up the central spot: one depicting a beautiful dark haired couple dressed in their wedding robes and one with a younger Sasuke smiling mischievously at the camera with his chubby arms wrapped around an older boy's neck. The older boy had longer hair, tied into a ponytail, and his arms were wrapped securely around Sasuke's body, preventing him from falling down.

Sasuke's parents and brother.

"Your mum was very beautiful," Naruto said, eyes lingering over the gentle, sweet face of the woman; her smile loving as she was held in the arms of her husband. The blond could see whose looks Sasuke had inherited.

Arms slipped around him from behind, a hard chest pressing against his back. Lips found his neck, kissing a spot underneath his ear softly. "Thanks. She would have loved you, you know?"

"Yeah?" Naruto turned around in his embrace, pecking his nose. "I'm glad to hear that; she sounded like an amazing woman."

"She was," Sasuke nodded and bent down, kissing Naruto insistently, his hands like warm brands on the Omega's lower back. "You smell amazing, did you know that?"

Naruto smiled, tilting his head to the right, offering the Alpha more space. "You might have mentioned it once or twice," he said breathlessly, a moan escaping his lips when Sasuke kissed his neck, nipping at his skin.

Somehow they ended up in Sasuke's bed, their shirts littering the floor. They kissed for a while, the contact between their mouths almost languidly, teeth only occasionally nipping teasingly.

Then Sasuke pulled back, supporting his weight on his two hands on either side of Naruto's head, and the dam broke finally.

They held each other's gaze as they divested themselves of the rest of their clothes, throwing their pyjama trousers, underwear and socks onto the floor carelessly. Sasuke bent down, aligning their bodies, and _**oh**_.

Naruto trembled when their cocks brushed against each other; the sensation unfamiliar but not unwelcome.

Oh no.

A tremor went through Sasuke's body and he gripped his shoulders harder, couldn't keep himself from digging his nails into the pale skin, when Sasuke started rocking his hips, their cocks rubbing together, pre come mixing, making everything slippery and smooth and easier to move.

It was over rather quickly, both boys too pent up, their desire too great to hold back, and Naruto gasped Sasuke's name softly, feeling like the air was slammed out of his chest by the force of his climax; his body shuddering and shivering through it.

The other boy followed swiftly, his face buried in the blond's neck, and his nails leaving crescent shaped marks behind in his thighs, as he breathed harshly; his body tense as he spent himself.

Black eyes met blue afterwards and they kissed each other softly, spent, exhausted but happy. They cleaned themselves with a wet washcloth; Naruto stifling snickers as they kept exchanging quick kisses and pecks on the cheeks. Sasuke smiled, his eyes so tender, it made Naruto's breath catch in his throat and their next kiss slow and filled with the affection they held for each other.

They fell back in bed, limbs tangled together; only their pyjama trousers separating them.

Sleep didn't take long to catch up to them.

* * *

Exams kept them busy for a few weeks, their time together mostly spent studying, cramming as much knowledge in their heads as possible. Sasuke didn't have to worry about his grades, maintaining the same perfect high scores all year long, but Naruto could be found panicking alongside Kiba; the both of them praying they wouldn't fuck up too badly.

Naruto considered it somewhat of a miracle – although Sasuke would claim it was his own doing and not the intervention of some benign higher being – that he managed to pass all his exams, allowing him to enter the last year of secondary school.

He celebrated the end of the school year and his good marks with Sasuke, Kiba, Shikamaru, Chouji and Hinata, eating barbecue at the restaurant of Chouji's parents and challenging the other boy to an eating contest.

Needless to say, he lost that particular contest and spent the next day cursing the stupidity that had allowed him to think he could ever win an eating contest from an opponent like Chouji.

Sasuke to his credit didn't once say "I told you so", but being the good boyfriend he was, he rubbed Naruto's back and brought him glasses of fresh cool water whenever Naruto's upset stomach let him know clearly that it didn't appreciate being the unwilling victim of the eating contest.

The blond doubted he'd be able to look at barbecue for a very long time after this.

* * *

"Your parents are gone for the entire weekend?" Sasuke asked for confirmation as they made their way upstairs; the steps creaking softly underneath their weight.

Licking his lips, Naruto nodded. "Yeah, they won't be back until tomorrow evening."

It was the last weekend before the new school year would start and Naruto's parents had decided to celebrate their twentieth wedding anniversary in some sort of resort near the sea. It was the first time in many years they were actually taken time off for themselves and Naruto was happy for them, especially after having witnessed how excited his mum had been about the trip.

Naruto had been granted permission to stay home alone with the condition that he could only have Sasuke over and that he would call either his parents or Kakashi instantly the moment they thought something was amiss.

"Or just call the cops; they'll be quick once they realise they need to go to the house of two of their colleagues," Dad had added.

Having free reign of the house was rather liberating, especially when a voice in the back of his mind reminded him helpfully that an empty house meant he and Sasuke could do whatever they wanted.

Leading them to this moment.

It was rather silly, perhaps, to close the door of his bedroom when he and Sasuke were the only ones home, but it made something in him settle.

"You're sure about this?" Sasuke inquired softly, his eyes intense as they searched Naruto's face for any trace of doubt or lie. "We can wait if you're not, you know. I can wait."

"I know." Naruto took a deep breath, crossing the distance between them quickly. "But I'm ready, I promise. What about you? You're sure?"

"Never been more sure," Sasuke said, quirking his lips in a faint smile.

"That's good," Naruto breathed out slowly, the butterflies in his stomach rampaging around. He'd been nervous ever since they'd finished dinner, but it was a good nervous, one which had him itching to start.

Tonight, they would lose their virginity to each other.

It was a thought that was at once both daunting and exciting, making him feel jittery when he imagined that soon, he'd feel Sasuke inside him. He wondered whether it would hurt and then decided he didn't care.

He was with Sasuke; even if it would hurt, it would be worth it.

They took their time undressing each other, sharing kisses between removing the clothes. Sasuke's belt dropped loudly on the floor; their jeans pooling around their ankles before they stepped out of them. Their underwear joined the rest of their clothes soon, leaving them naked in front of each other.

Naruto held out his hand and when Sasuke grasped it, he pulled him gently along to the bed, sinking down on it and tugging the Alpha down too. Little sparks of electricity seemed to prickle him every time they touched and he distracted himself by seeking out Sasuke's mouth, kissing him deeply, swiping his tongue across his lips.

Sasuke opened his mouth willingly and then their tongues touched and Naruto sighed, losing himself into the kiss. It started out slow, but gradually grew more intense, more passionate, leaving him panting and his cheeks flushed when Sasuke drew back; his mouth feeling slightly swollen already.

They laid down on the bed, drawing the blanket over their bodies. For all that it was April, the air was still cool, making goose bumps erupt over their arms.

Lips made their way down Naruto's cheek, over his chin, teasing his neck, suckling a mark there, before they brushed over his chest; a tongue flicking at his right nipple, teeth tugging gently at it until it hardened underneath the skilful touch, the other one receiving the same treatment with Sasuke's fingers.

Biting down on his lower lip, Naruto squirmed, his chest feeling ridiculously sensitive; hands scrabbling over a strong, smooth back before latching onto equally strong and broad shoulders.

There was definitely a smirk playing around Sasuke's mouth when he briefly looked up, saw the effect he was having on the blond, but before Naruto could say something about that damn smugness, Sasuke's tongue darted down, tracing a path over his stomach, dipping into his navel briefly, before he nuzzled his lower stomach.

"You're a tease," Naruto hissed, when Sasuke skipped his cock, and trailed his hands over his thighs, his caress faintly ticklish on the inside of them.

"Weren't you a tease three days ago?" Sasuke threw back casually, quirking an eyebrow as he sat up.

"That's different," Naruto pouted, raising a leg and curling it around Sasuke's.

"I don't see how it's any different. You kept teasing me the entire time you blew me," the dark haired boy pointed out.

"Still different," Naruto insisted and gasped when fingers slid briefly between his butt cheeks, a thumb sweeping across his rim, collecting the slick that was slowly coating his hole.

"So that's a way to shut you up, hm? Good to know," Sasuke hummed; his other hand gripping Naruto's hip firmly.

"How about you – oh my god," Naruto thumped his head back on the pillow when Sasuke licked his thumb, a curious look on his face. Hiding his face behind his hands, the blond said muffled, "I can't believe you did that. What the hell, Sasuke?"

"You did the same a few days ago," Sasuke commented. "Besides, you don't taste that bad."

"Not the point, you bastard," Naruto muttered, blushing.

Sasuke shrugged and bent down to capture the Omega's mouth before he could form another retort. Running his hands over Sasuke's chest, feeling muscles tense and shift, Naruto returned the kiss eagerly, nipping at the other's lower lip and letting the tips of their tongues meet.

As their kisses turned deeper, more insistent, laced through with desire, their hands grew braver, dipping lower and lower. Their hips rocked together, a moan or a groan escaping them occasionally, muffled by their lips.

Naruto shuddered when Sasuke bit him gently in his neck, leaving another mark behind which he soothed with his tongue, and Sasuke hid his face in Naruto's shoulder when the latter ran his nails teasingly across his back, leaving faint reddish lines behind.

He had no clue how much time had passed when Sasuke pulled back and looked at him. His cheeks were tinted pink, his mouth slightly swollen, and his dark eyes glistened. A couple of dark marks were blooming on his chest, one even in his neck, and they stood out starkly against his pale skin. His hands clamped down around Naruto's hips and he sat up.

"You ready?" he questioned, his tone breathless and low, sending a shiver down the blond's spine.

Naruto swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry when he realised they were about to go further than they had gone before. His nerves ramped up a notch and when he reached out with his hands, they shook slightly.

"Y-yeah, I'm ready," he muttered, breathing out shakily.

"You sure? We can stop," Sasuke said cautiously, even though his prick was looking rather red by now, pre come shining at the tip. Not that Naruto's was in any better shape.

He shook his head quickly, rising up to peck Sasuke's lips. "No, I don't want to stop," he insisted. "I'm just a bit nervous, but I want this, okay? I promise."

"I'll be careful," Sasuke promised, kissing him softly.

"I know, I trust you," Naruto muttered, but couldn't help but tense up when a finger circled his entrance, collecting some slick, before slowly sliding inside.

Sasuke paused when he felt the younger boy tense up and Naruto wrinkled his nose. "Oh, that feels weird," he mumbled, looping his arms around the Alpha's shoulders.

"Good weird good or bad weird?" Sasuke inquired, frowning slightly.

Smoothing out that frown with his thumb, Naruto pursed his lips and shrugged. "Don't know, just feels a bit weird."

"You've never done this to yourself?"

"No, why would I have?"

"I don't know. During your heat or so?"

"Nah, that would only have made me more frustrated," Naruto sighed and wiggled his arse. "Go on, keep going."

"You said it felt weird."

"Of course it feels weird, doesn't mean you have to stop now."

Sasuke huffed, but did as he was told, pushing his finger a bit deeper. He paused again when muscles tensed up around the digit and sought out his boyfriend's lips once more, distracting him with a deep kiss. The kissing worked, Naruto getting sufficiently distracted, allowing the Alpha to slip a second finger inside after a while, spreading both fingers carefully.

The Omega's natural lubricant aided in preparing him and the quiet 'slick, slick' sounds that occasionally became audible enough had Naruto blushing furiously, feeling a bit embarrassed for some reason.

Sasuke didn't seem to mind, though, his dark eyes flashing dangerously every time his ears caught the sound, and his kisses grew more insistent, deeper, his mouth pressing hard against Naruto's, stealing his breath, leaving him gasping for air.

"Oh fuck!" The words escaped him in a surprised moan when those fingers – three this time and making him feel fuller than the two already had done – brushed against something hidden deep within him, sending little bursts of sparks through his nervous system; his inner muscles clamping down around those fingers.

"That good?" Sasuke asked but before Naruto could answer, Sasuke pressed against the little bundle of nerves more firmly, longer, and a shock went through the blond's body, his thighs quivering and his hands clamping around Sasuke's biceps as he climaxed, the pleasure skyrocketing all of a sudden, sending him straight over the edge.

The sounds coming from his mouth were rather embarrassing, but he couldn't care about those now, not when Sasuke kept pushing against that particular spot, prolonging his orgasm for just a bit longer until the pleasure threatened to teeter over into pain. Only then did those fingers disappear, leaving Naruto gasping for air underneath the Alpha, legs splayed open and chest heaving; blue eyes wide and lips parted.

"Fuck," Naruto breathed out, shifting his eyes from the ceiling to the boy between his legs. His stomach flipped upside down when he met the predatory gleam inside those dark eyes, his breath catching in his throat when Sasuke leant over him, his hands pressing into the pillow on either side of Naruto's head.

"You looked amazing," Sasuke said huskily, his eyes boring deep into cerulean blue ones. Naruto worried his cheeks would be permanently stained red after this. "Think I can make you come again?"

"Er, you're welcome to try," Naruto replied squeakily, his voice higher than he'd intended, but it was hard to keep his thoughts straight with the way Sasuke looked at him.

As if Naruto was the most attractive person in the world and he wanted nothing more than to worship him.

It was a heady feeling and Sasuke didn't help when his hands framed Naruto's face and his next kiss was deep and full of unspoken love.

They shuffled around a bit afterwards, trying to figure out what kind of position would work out the best for this. They eventually settled on Naruto on his back, with a pillow underneath his arse to prop up his hips a bit; his sweat making the cover of the pillow stick a bit to his skin.

Well, after they were done, sweat on the pillow was probably the least of their concern.

"Ready?" Sasuke asked. His hands were resting on Naruto's thighs, caressing them absently, as he waited for the go ahead. His black bangs were sticking to his forehead and his mouth was stained red; his dark eyes larger than usual.

At the question, nerves started racing through his body again and his next exhale was shaky. He was ready, more than ready even, but that didn't take away that the thought of giving himself to Sasuke completely, of letting the other boy have him in a way no one else had before, was rather scary.

He felt vulnerable, not only because he was completely naked, but also because here, at this moment, there were no more barriers between them. He knew Sasuke would never hurt him, would be careful when they finally joined their bodies, but the idea of giving himself to the dark haired boy, let him have something nobody else would ever have, was rather heavy.

"Naruto? We can stop, you know. We don't have to do this right now," Sasuke said gently, his hands stilling.

"I know," Naruto said and took a deep breath. "But I don't want to. I want this. Just – can you kiss me again?"

His features softened and Sasuke nodded, leaning down so their mouths met in the middle. As Sasuke's tongue slipped between his parted lips, he felt Sasuke's cock nudging against his stretched entrance; his boyfriend's hand brushed against his inner thigh as he lined his cock up to the Omega's hole.

There was a short pause and right when another tongue met his own, Sasuke started pushing forwards; the tip of his cock slipping past his rim easily. The rest was a bit more difficult, Sasuke's progress slow as he waited for Naruto to relax. Bit by bit he slipped further inside, pressing soft kisses all over Naruto's face and stroking his hair, until his hips were flush against Naruto's arse, his cock buried to the hilt inside.

"Ah." Naruto blinked, staring up at the ceiling, his body adjusting to the weird sensation. He felt full, fuller than when Sasuke had just used his fingers, and there was an annoying ache in his lower back. The pain wasn't too bad – less severe than he'd feared – but it was obvious that his body wasn't used to this and he didn't dare to move yet.

Thankfully Sasuke didn't move either; Naruto didn't know what he would have done if the other boy had started moving immediately. Instead Sasuke's warm breath washed across his cheek while he waited for the blond to adjust to the intrusion. It must be hard to keep still, though, because the Omega could feel him slightly trembling; his breath harsher than before.

"You all right? Are you in pain?" Sasuke asked worriedly, sounding strained.

"It's not that bad," Naruto admitted, but his arms tightened around Sasuke's shoulders and he buried his face in the Alpha's neck, inhaling his scent, letting it wash over him and calm him down. "You – you can move, just … slow, okay?"

"Okay," Sasuke agreed softly and he was careful when he pulled back almost completely, until only the tip was still inside. He waited for a few seconds before sliding right back inside; Naruto's slick making it easier.

Gradually his hips started moving faster, Naruto meeting his thrusts after a while too once the pain subsided completely and feeling Sasuke inside him was no longer a foreign sensation.

In fact he came to find out that he liked feeling Sasuke inside, liked how he filled him completely; his muscles clenching down every time the Alpha pulled back as if they wanted to keep him inside all the time.

Their kisses were sloppy, their breathing ragged; their muscles starting to burn with exertion. Soft groans and moans resounded through the room; Naruto whimpering, his breath hitching, every time Sasuke touched that special place inside him. Despite having come once already, his prick was hard again, pressed between their stomachs, creating enough friction for pleasure to course through his body.

Sasuke laced their fingers together, pressing their hands down next to Naruto's ear, and his thrusts grew more urgent, went deeper and harder; his rhythm growing uneven as he neared his climax.

His hips stuttered to a stop and he grunted, his jaw clenched, as he came, coating Naruto's channel with his seed. His hand slipped between their bodies, jerked Naruto's cock a few times, angled his hips just so that he pressed against that hidden bundle of nerves until his boyfriend was thrown over the edge as well; the pleasure so overwhelming that tears escaped his eyes and his whole body shook and quivered, his eyes rolling back as a loud moan was torn from him. His grip on Sasuke's wrist the only thing still anchoring him.

Sasuke didn't pull back immediately; covering Naruto with his own body while their hearts raced in tandem, their lungs trying desperately to get enough oxygen inside them again. Eventually though, Sasuke looked up and brushed a soft kiss against Naruto's own bruised lips, wiping away some stray tears with his thumb. They both winced when Sasuke pulled out, their stomachs a sticky mess.

As Naruto sat up, he thought he could feel some of Sasuke's seed dribbling out of him, staining his cheeks and thighs, adding to the whole mess. His legs were wobbly when he stood up and he nearly buckled through his knees before he could lock them together. His arse started to ache, but it was a good ache, strange as that was to think, and he followed Sasuke into the bathroom to clean up.

They took their time underneath the shower, helping each other get rid of the mess, sharing soft, tired kisses underneath the spray of warm water. Sasuke left the shower earlier while Naruto got rid of the remaining stickiness between his cheeks and when he gingerly stepped out of the shower, there was already some clean shorts waiting for him.

The ache a bit more persistent now, he shuffled back to his room, where Sasuke had already changed the bedsheets; the old ones dumped in a heap in a corner of the room together with the pillow they'd used for support.

They shared a bottle of water before slipping back in bed, the cool sheets welcome against their heated skin.

They didn't exchange any words, but they didn't have to. The looks they gave each other saying more than words ever could; their tender kisses speaking volumes.

They fell asleep wrapped in each other's embrace; feeling closer to each other than ever before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN2: Yeah *coughs* I hope this made up for the delay!
> 
> Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me!
> 
> I hope to see you all back in the next chapter!
> 
> Cuddles
> 
> Melissa


	8. Growing Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: Sorry for the slight delay, guys, I still had to finish the chapter today and as usual it grew out a lot longer than I anticipated *coughs*
> 
> Thanks for all the kudos and the comments! Seriously, guys, already nearing 800 kudos?!! O_O
> 
> Warnings: mature content; bullying; name calling; some drama; I think that's it. Let me know if I'm missing something else.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
> 
> I hope you'll like it!

_8 Growing Part 1_

Naruto was the first one to wake up the next morning. It didn't happen very often that he woke up first; when Sasuke spent the night, he usually woke before Naruto. Blinking sleepily, he went to turn on his left side, figuring he could still catch a bit more sleep as it was only Sunday, but something stopped him from moving. Something heavy and warm.

Surprise chasing away the last vestiges of sleep, he looked down and was greeted by the sight of tousled, black tresses fanned open across his chest. He couldn't see Sasuke's face from this position, but the steady and slow rise and fall of his chest indicated that he was still deeply asleep. His head was lying roughly on the spot where he'd be able to hear Naruto's heart beat if he was awake, and when the blond shifted slightly, he felt an arm curled around his hips underneath the sheets. Sometime during the night they had lowered until they covered their waists partly and Naruto was treated to the sight of soft pale skin when the morning sun peeked through a gap in the curtains.

Both of them only wearing shorts, Naruto became at once instantly aware of their bare skin pressed against each other; their legs tangled underneath the sheets; Sasuke's warm breath caressing his sternum every time he exhaled.

The way their scents were so mingled together, he had a hard time figuring out where his started and ended. It was as if someone had taken his scent and that of Sasuke's and mixed them together until they formed the perfect blend. One which had warmth filling the pit of his belly and the tips of his fingers tingling when he inhaled deeply.

It suddenly hit him that he was no longer a virgin.

Last night he'd given himself completely to Sasuke, had welcomed the Alpha in his body, had let himself fall and trust the other one to catch him despite his worries, despite that little bit of fear making him anxious that he wouldn't be good for Sasuke.

He'd been stupid to be worried. Sasuke had taken care of him, had been so wonderful and gentle, yet so passionate at the same time, it made Naruto's eyes prickle with unshed tears. His first time had been everything he had ever dreamt of and more and he was so glad he had shared it with Sasuke. No matter what would happen in the future, he knew he would never regret having given himself to the dark haired boy sleeping on top of him.

Even if he was rather heavy and kind of restricting his air supply just a tiny bit.

Wriggling one arm free from underneath the sheets, he reached out his hand and tentatively, lightly, started running his fingers through Sasuke's hair; feeling the soft locks slip through them like water. The strands whispered against his skin and he took care not to accidentally snag or pull them, not wanting to wake up Sasuke. It wasn't every day that he could witness the dark haired boy sleeping so deeply and he was loathe to disrupt that.

As he laid there, caressing Sasuke's hair, he became aware of some red bluish marks blooming across the side of Sasuke's neck, visible whenever he stroked the hair back, and his cheeks warmed when he realised those marks were there because of _him_. His mind flashed back to last night when he'd nipped and sucked at random patches of the Alpha's skin, tasting salt and sweat and everything that made up Sasuke. He was sure that when Sasuke woke and sat up, more of those marks would dot his collarbone and his chest. He wondered if there were any visible marks on his skin, left behind by Sasuke's teeth and lips. It'd be nice to have them, he mused absently, daring to touch one of the marks in the Alpha's neck before he went back to caressing his hair. A way to show others that he belonged to Sasuke and the Alpha belonged to him.

There were still girls trying to ask out Sasuke, he knew. Even though Sasuke never showed any interest, didn't reciprocate their feelings, some still tried to convince him to go out on a date with them. He'd been nearby a couple of times when a girl had gathered enough courage to ask out Sasuke, but he wasn't bothered by it. He felt annoyed in Sasuke's stead, knowing how much the dark haired boy disliked that particular type of interest, but nothing more than that. He knew Sasuke would never give those people even a second glance, not as long as he was together with the blond Omega.

It made him wonder whether others would know now. Would they realise something had changed between Sasuke and Naruto? Would they be able to see that they had taken what most considered to be the last step in their relationship? Did Naruto look different now, now that he was no longer a virgin, now that he knew how it felt to be touched like that, now that he had experienced the heady sensation of someone being inside of him?

He didn't really feel different, but at the same time … He _knew_ something had changed. An awareness that he hadn't had before now had his skin prickling wherever he and Sasuke touched, had warmth simmering in the pit of his stomach and made his heart full, himself feeling like he was about to burst out of his skin.

Not even the lingering ache at the base of his spine, the soreness he experienced when he clenched his cheeks experimentally, could put a damper on the awe which filled him at the memory of last night, of joining their bodies in a dance as old as time itself and having those intense dark eyes gazing at him in wonder, knowing he'd put that look in them, knowing he'd been the one to make Sasuke's voice go rough and his cheeks flush.

Maybe Sasuke had heard his heart skip a beat or it was just a coincidence, but Sasuke stirred suddenly and Naruto's hand froze. For a couple of seconds neither one moved until the Alpha groaned softly and raised his head, blinking sleepily at the blond.

"Good morning," he rasped out and sat up, rubbing his eyes briefly while bracing his weight on the other hand.

"Morning. Slept well?" Naruto asked; his gaze automatically drawn towards Sasuke's chest. And yeah, there they were: several reddish blueish marks colouring his collarbone and chest. They stood out starkly against his pale skin and Naruto had the absurd desire to poke at them.

"Can't complain," Sasuke muttered and rolled his shoulders, hiding a yawn behind his hand. Dark eyes were decidedly clearer when they landed on the Omega again. "How about you? How are you feeling?"

Knowing the other one would know immediately if he lied – even if it was a small white lie – Naruto admitted, "A bit sore, but I'm okay."

Sasuke's forehead creased with a light frown. "But not too bad, right?" he asked sharply.

"Definitely not too bad," Naruto grinned.

"So, no regrets?" A dark eyebrow quirked and when Sasuke shifted slightly, Naruto could feel his half hard dick pressing into his thigh, making him inhale sharply.

"No regrets," he reassured him hastily, biting his lip when Sasuke tilted his head to the right.

"None, whatsoever?" Sasuke asked and nudged Naruto's legs apart. The Omega spread his legs almost automatically, a bit off guard, and then Sasuke rolled over, landing between his legs and slotting their hips together.

Naruto hissed when their cocks, still separated by thin cloth, brushed against each other and scowled up at the dark haired boy. "Don't start teasing me if you're not going to finish what you start," he said petulantly.

"And what exactly do you want me to finish?" Sasuke smirked, his eyes glinting devilishly. He was resting most of his weight on his arms now, which were bracketing Naruto, but his lower body was nestled between the blond's thighs, making sure the younger one felt _everything_.

Naruto couldn't help but squirm, which actually made everything worse as it pressed him closer to Sasuke, and he flushed when dark eyes flickered down, wondering whether the other one knew he was growing slick again.

"You know what I mean," he muttered, breathing out through his mouth when Sasuke nuzzled his neck. Clasping his arms around the Alpha's neck, he turned his head sideways, giving the older boy more space.

"You said you were sore," Sasuke mumbled, pressing kisses as light as a butterfly's touch in Naruto's neck.

"A bit! I can barely feel it," Naruto insisted. "You were so careful with me I barely feel any soreness."

Sasuke snorted and pulled back slightly, looking a tad amused. "I'm sorry for being careful with you," he said, rolling his eyes.

"I'm not complaining," Naruto huffed, reeling him in to press a kiss against his mouth, morning breath be damned. "I'm just saying, if you want …" he hinted, trailing off; still feeling a bit bashful to say it aloud, despite what they had done last night.

Black eyes glinted before Sasuke shook his head. "Not all the way," he said calmly.

"What? Why not?" For a brief moment the insecure part of him worried that last night hadn't been good for Sasuke at all and that was why he was refusing to go all the way now. What if Naruto sucked really badly? What if he was the only one who'd enjoyed himself yesterday?

Sasuke looked at him like he was stupid. "Because you said you're sore." If it had been in his nature to say it, he'd probably have tacked on a "Duh!" at the end of that.

"I said I was a bit sore," Naruto reminded him and now it was his turn to roll his eyes. "Doesn't mean I don't want to do it again."

He did feel relieved that Sasuke's refusal to have sex again had to do with him worrying about Naruto's soreness instead of the Alpha just not being into it. He should have guessed that, though, instead of allowing his insecurities to rise to the surface.

"And I don't want to hurt you. We can do it again later when you're no longer sore."

"Sasuke, I'm an Omega."

"Yeah, I know. What of it?"

"I'm literally built to accept a dick in me," Naruto said deadpan, even if his own words made him blush a little bit. "A little bit of soreness doesn't mean I can't have sex with you again!"

Dark eyes flicked to the ceiling as if asking for patience from a higher being. "Naruto, we can do it again later. It doesn't matter that you're only a little bit sore; even with that little bit, it's best to wait for now. I don't want to make it worse."

"So what, you first start this and then you're not even going to finish it?" Naruto said snippily, glowering at the boy on top of him. What was even the point of him getting excited then? They could have just stuck to kissing in that case!

"Will you listen for once? I never said I wouldn't do anything, I just said I wouldn't go all the way now," Sasuke retorted, sighing.

Befuddled, Naruto drew his eyebrows together. "What do you mean?"

"I mean there are other things we can still do," Sasuke murmured, eyes half lidded, as he dragged a finger down Naruto's chest, pausing right above his lower belly.

"Ah," Naruto said blankly before the position of Sasuke's finger registered. The warmth in his lower belly, which had been simmering until now, suddenly spread out, racing through his veins, alighting every nerve in his body. Licking his lips, he muttered, "Y-Yeah, I'm fine with other things."

A smirk unfurled across the Alpha's face and before Naruto could say anything else, his mouth was captured in a heated kiss, a tongue slipping between his parted lips and touching his own. A low moan left his throat when a hand dipped between them, fingers curling around his cock, stroking up and down firmly. Distracted by the warm hand, it took him a moment to acknowledge that he really should start reciprocating but before he could reach out with his hand, Sasuke pressed a hard kiss on his lips and slid down his body, leaving a trail of hot kisses behind, pausing at intervals to nibble at his skin. He'd probably leave behind even more marks, but Naruto couldn't be particularly bothered by that.

Especially not when Sasuke disappeared underneath the sheets and the next second his dick was engulfed in wet heat. He barely managed to cover his mouth with the back of his hand when he shouted in surprise, back arching, and he whined silently when just as quickly that amazing heat went away.

"I want to hear your voice," Sasuke remarked sharply, appearing genuinely annoyed that Naruto would even think about muffling his noises.

"That sounds so embarrassing, why are you – OH MY GOD!" His hands flew down at the same moment he shot up; clawing at the sheets as Sasuke took him in his mouth again, his tongue sliding around the head teasingly.

As each time before when Sasuke decided to blow him, he was quickly reduced to a blabbing mess, his mind blanking as overwhelming pleasure raced through his body, igniting in his lower belly before spreading out, making his fingertips tingle and the rushing of his blood loud in his ears. All his focus was aimed at the head bobbing up and down between his legs, the way dark strands tickled his inner thighs; hands gripping his hips tightly, keeping them immobile against the mattress. Breathy moans escaped him every time a tongue dipped briefly in his slit, pressing against it, before Sasuke would take more of him inside his mouth, swirling his tongue around the shaft.

He gasped, muttered, "F-fuck, S-Sasuke," when he felt the tip of a finger press against his hole, which by now had definitely become very slick again. Sasuke's finger rubbed along his rim before slipping inside. Still being rather loose from the night before, it didn't take long for the Alpha to add a second finger and at the same time those fingers prodded against Naruto's prostate, Sasuke swallowed around him, forcing an odd strangled noise out of the blond's throat.

His thighs were quivering, his muscles tensing up as he was nearing the peak of his pleasure, and his fingers dug into Sasuke's shoulders, trying to find something to anchor himself and he'd be embarrassed about the continuous moans and groans pouring out of his mouth if he had any brain capacity left to care about it.

His fingers kept sliding in and out of the Omega, teasing his sweet spot every time they slipped inside, and Sasuke lifted his head a bit, his lips reddened and his eyes glittering; his mouth being replaced by his other hand. He waited until Naruto looked down, a shuddering breath hissed between gritted teeth, and then said throatily, "I really want to taste you here," his fingers crooked inside Naruto's channel, "one day."

 _That fucking did it_. The mental image of Sasuke touching him _there_ , of feeling that ridiculously skilled tongue moving inside of him, proved to be too much and Naruto's back arched, his hands slapping over his eyes as he came with a soundless scream, every nerve in his body alight while his legs trembled and tightened around Sasuke's chest. The Alpha kept moving his fingers relentlessly, prolonging the pleasure until it threatened to tip over into pain, and Naruto whined brokenly, shocks going through his system, and he gasped, feeling like his lungs would never get enough air anymore.

Sasuke finally took pity on him and pulled back his fingers, sitting up. Naruto dropped back down on the bed, chest heaving like he'd run a marathon, and when he pried his eyes open, he was met with the Alpha's smug smirk.

"So I take it you're going to take that into consideration?" he remarked innocently; wiping his hand off on the sheets.

"Eugh, fuck you, you bastard," Naruto snorted, still panting a bit, but he'd recovered enough to sit up and push Sasuke down.

"Not before you're healed, remember?"

"Shut up, it's my turn now," Naruto retorted and kissed his boyfriend fiercely, before making his way down his firm chest, enjoying feeling his muscles shifting underneath his lips.

When he flicked his eyes up and saw the dazed look in black eyes, he grinned, knowing that at least this was something Sasuke wouldn't try to be chivalrous about.

Now it was _his_ turn to make Sasuke see stars.

* * *

They spent the rest of the day lounging in Naruto's bed – after they'd changed the sheets again and tossed the filthy ones into the washing machine, opting to get them cleaned before Naruto's parents would return home – and venturing downstairs once in the afternoon to watch some television.

They talked about the upcoming school year which would start tomorrow and which would be their last one. Naruto wondered aloud whether Kiba had survived the holiday – he'd seen him last week before he'd gone on a holiday with his parents and sister – or whether Neji had managed to turn his threats into reality.

Sasuke betted Kiba had got his arse kicked at least once before he'd managed to escape Neji's wrath and while Naruto wanted to defend his friend, he couldn't do anything else but agree that that was very likely. Neji was still pissed off that his cousin was dating Kiba and while Naruto wanted to be loyal, even he had to admit that in a fight between Neji and Kiba, Neji would definitely be the superior one.

They ordered pizza for dinner and while they waited for the pizza to arrive, Naruto's mum texted him to announce they were on their way back and would be home in two hours.

"You're sure you can't stay the night?" Naruto wondered, shoving the last bit of pizza in his mouth, the crust crunching loudly between his teeth.

Shrugging on his thin jacket, Sasuke shook his head. "Sorry, I'd love to, but Kakashi said he had something to discuss with me and knowing him, that can take hours." He bent down to capture Naruto's lips in a soft kiss, ignoring the taste of grease. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay? I'll come pick you up at eight."

"Yeah, okay, I'll see you tomorrow," Naruto murmured, returning the kiss. He leant with his shoulder against the doorframe, watching Sasuke walk to his car and get behind the wheel. He waved when the car started and only closed the door when he could no longer see Sasuke's car driving down the street.

Figuring he could use the remaining time he had left before his parents would be home to clean up, he gathered the two empty pizza boxes – he'd been hungry, all right, he was still a growing boy! – and the used napkins to throw them in the trash. He washed off their glasses and left them to dry, wandering back into the living room to catch the last bit of the movie they'd been watching.

The sound of the front door opening five minutes later had him straightening out from his slouched position on the couch.

"Naruto, we're back!" Mum called out and there was some heavy ' _thump_ ' noises as their suitcases were dropped on the floor. "Sasuke-kun here too?"

"No, he just left. Kakashi-san wants to talk to him about something," Naruto replied, walking into the hallway straight into mum's arms.

Squeezing him tightly against hers. "Oooh, I missed you so much, sweetheart!" she crooned, pressing several kisses on his face, laughing when he tried to fend her off. When she pulled back, she seemed to freeze for a moment, but the grin was back on her face so quickly, Naruto wondered whether he'd imagined it.

"It's a miracle she didn't decide to leave as soon as we got there," Dad said gravelly, but his eyes twinkled and he snickered when she punched his arm.

Huffing, she crossed her arms. "Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't aware it's a crime to miss my baby boy!" she sneered.

"Mum, I'm turning eighteen this year."

"Of course it's not a crime, honey," Dad soothed her and pecked her nose. "I'm going to put our stuff away and then I'll take a shower, all right? I'm starting to smell of spaghetti sauce." He wrinkled his nose, grabbing the two suitcases. "I'm glad the house is still in one piece, Naruto."

"Hey!"

Chuckling he ascended the stairs; the suitcases occasionally bumping against the wall.

Rolling his eyes Naruto turned back to his mum and stilled when he saw the calculating look on her face. "Mum?"

The smile she gave him didn't really reassure him. "I'd like to talk to you about something. Come on, I'll make some tea."

"Er, okay," he said slowly, trailing after her into the kitchen. He wondered what she wanted to talk about. Their trip perhaps?

Puttering around the kitchen, mum waited for the kettle to boil while she dropped tea bags into two cups, humming absently to herself. Naruto took a seat at the table, supporting his chin with his fist, and smiled at the look of concentration on her face when she filled both mugs. It had only been a weekend, but he was glad that his parents were back home.

"Here you go, sweetheart," Mum smiled, placing the orange mug in front of him. She carried her own mug to her seat, stirring the spoon slowly in the steaming tea.

"You wanted to talk to me?" he prompted when she remained quiet for a while; her eyes staring at something in the distance.

She blinked and nodded; her gaze growing sharp at once. "I'm going to ask you something and I want you to be honest with me, even if you think it's embarrassing, all right, Naruto?"

That didn't particularly put him at ease and he eyed her warily. "All right," he agreed haltingly, unsure whether he would like where this conversation was heading.

She took a deep breath, seemingly to steel herself, and then asked, a blush filling her cheeks, "Did you and Sasuke-kun have sex this weekend?"

He promptly turned red. "Ma! What kind of question is that!" he squawked, not at all wanting to answer that question truthfully. Shit, why would she ask something like that? Was it that obvious that he and Sasuke had had sex? Was there something on his face that screamed "I'm no longer a virgin!"?!

While he was freaking out internally, she gave him a patient look. "Honey, I told you before: I'm not going to be angry about you and Sasuke-kun having sex. I just need to know the truth, please. It's important."

Staring down at the table, fearing his cheeks would be permanently stained red after this, he nodded almost imperceptibly and mumbled, "Y-yeah, I, er, I slept with Sasuke." Scratching at a ridge in the table, he added, "How did you know?"

"Well, er, it's kind of hard not to notice," she said and coughed, clearing her throat. When her son just stared blankly at her, she tacked on, "Your scent, hon. I can barely distinguish it from Sasuke-kun's, so it wasn't hard to guess …"

"You can smell that I had sex?" he squeaked horrified and raised his arm to sniff himself. Sure, he could smell Sasuke on him, but he didn't think there was much difference to how he'd smelt before they'd slept together.

"Only the first couple of times," she reassured him; her own face steadily reddening. "It's just because the change in your scent is really noticeable at the beginning, but after that there won't be any difference whether you have sex with him or not."

"God, does that mean my other friends will know?" he groaned and thumped his head on the table. Guess he would be fielding off questions come tomorrow.

"Most likely, yeah," she replied and was silent for so long, Naruto looked up.

"What?" he asked when he noticed the look of hesitation on her face.

"It's just – there is one more thing I want to talk to you about, but before that," she paused and licked her lips before shouldering on, "I just want to know one thing for sure: you didn't feel pressured to sleep with him, right?"

"Of course not!" He shot up from his slumped position, outraged on Sasuke's behalf. "Sasuke would never force me to do anything I didn't want, you know that, ma! Hell, he kept asking me whether I was sure the entire time!" he ranted, holding himself back just in time before he blurted out that Sasuke wouldn't even have sex with him this morning, just because Naruto had told him he was still a bit sore.

Did that sound like a guy who'd pressure someone?

She held up her hand placatingly. "I know, Naruto, but I just wanted to be completely sure, okay? I know Sasuke-kun isn't like that, but I was just a bit worried," she admitted, sighing softly. "Now that we got that out of the way, though, there's one last thing I want to discuss with you."

"What's that?" he asked suspiciously and crossed his arms.

She pursed her lips for a moment as she gathered her thoughts, looking like she was searching for the right way to address whatever she wanted to discuss. "Naruto, did you know that Sasuke-kun initiated the first part of the Mating process with you?" she asked tentatively; no trace of humour left in her eyes.

"What?" he questioned flatly, not sure where she was going with this. The first part of the Mating process? What part? Didn't you just have to bite each other so that you would carry each other's Mark?

He and Sasuke might have been enthusiastic with their mouths this weekend, but he'd known it if the Alpha had bitten him with that particular intent.

"Do you know there's a part before the Bite that creates the Mark?" Mum inquired, folding her hands on top of the table.

"No, what do you do during that part?" he asked confused, even as his heart started to beat a little bit faster.

"Well, in this case you don't do much, because the intent comes from your partner," she said slowly, tracing mindless shapes on the table with her left index finger. "I said that I knew you'd slept together because of your mixed scent, right?"

He nodded, still embarrassed that his mum had caught on to that fact, even when they'd been diligent enough to clean the evidence.

"Well, the thing is … There's a gradation, you could say, in how mixed up your scents become when you sleep together. Just having sex on its own will change your scent only a bit, but Naruto, you smell like you took a bath in his scent," she said bluntly and a choked noise escaped the blond. "And the only reason why you would smell so much like him, is because he took the first step in the Mating process."

"But what is the first step? Sasuke didn't tell me anything about this." Surely if Sasuke wanted to officially mate with him, he'd have told Naruto before they had sex? Never mind that even, weren't they still a bit too young to think about Mating? They weren't even eighteen yet; not to mention they hadn't been together for a year either.

"If Sasuke-kun is anything like Minato in that regard, it wouldn't surprise me if he took the step subconsciously," she answered, somewhat amused. "It's hard to explain, but the first step is basically a way to ensure that nobody else tries to hit on you. The both of you smelling so much like each other is sort of like a warning sign to the rest of the world that you belong to each other and not to someone else."

She took a deep breath. "In order to initiate the first step, there has to be serious intent. I know this is rather embarrassing, but simply put, when Sasuke-kun had sex with you, there was at least a part in him that wanted to claim you completely. The intent behind this desire caused your scents to fuse together more intensely."

"Oh." Naruto wasn't sure how to react to that. So Sasuke had wanted to claim him completely and that was why their scents had become nearly indistinguishable? Did that mean Sasuke wanted to mate with him officially, give him the Mark? But weren't they still too young for that?

Honestly he hadn't even thought about what exactly the future would hold for them. They'd graduate, attend a college or a university, find a job … He hadn't given it much thought yet, but he'd just assumed Sasuke would be there every step of the way – he just hadn't considered that might mean Sasuke actually wanting to Mark him.

Now that he'd apparently initiated the first part of the Mating, did this mean they were working with a deadline now? Did they have to give each other the Bite soon? He wasn't sure whether he was ready for that yet. He liked Sasuke, yes, no doubt about that, but the idea of carrying his Mark seemed rather daunting at the moment.

Did that make him a bad boyfriend?

"Look, you don't need to worry too much about this, all right?" Mum said soothingly, pricking straight through his thoughts. "Just because Sasuke-kun initiated the first step doesn't mean you're obligated to give each other the Bite. Either it'll happen or it won't; that's up to you two. I just figured you wanted to know this in case someone else asks you about it."

"Okay." He hesitated. "Thanks, mum."

"No problem. If you have any questions, you know you can talk to me." She stood up and a smirk flitted across her lips when she pointed at his neck. "I guess others won't really need to smell your scent, though, given the hickey Sasuke-kun gave you." She winked and laughed when Naruto slapped a hand across his neck, blushing furiously.

"Ma!"

"Hey, no need to be ashamed! It's perfectly natural for you two to want to - "

"Ma, no!"

* * *

Naruto thought about asking Sasuke about the whole initiating the first part, but in the end he decided against it. Sasuke didn't seem to be in a stellar mood when he picked him up on Monday morning, mumbling that Kakashi had wanted to talk to him about something related to his parents' inheritance.

Given how the subject of his family still tended to be rather sensitive at times, Naruto didn't badger him and figured he would talk to Sasuke about the Mating process another time.

They had more important stuff to deal with once they arrived at school anyway. Kiba was the first one to greet them – sans any visible injuries – and he literally blanched and stopped a few feet away from them.

"You two hooked up?" he exclaimed flabbergasted and several students nearby turned their heads.

"Would you keep your voice down!" Naruto hissed and punched his arm. "And we didn't hook up, we've been together since Christmas, you idiot!"

Next to him Sasuke snorted, but for once kept his own insults to himself.

"Wait, since Christmas?" Kiba's eyes widened. "Why didn't you say anything?"

The Omega shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. "I thought you'd notice it on your own; didn't seem really necessary to shout it from the rooftops."

The Beta squinted. "How the hell was I supposed to notice that? You two have been smelling like each other for months – although now the smell is a lot worse." He wrinkled his nose. "What did you do, roll all over each other?"

"One way of describing it," Sasuke muttered underneath his breath, smirking slightly when Naruto elbowed his side.

"Just because you're as slow as a snail, doesn't mean nobody else noticed them being together," Shikamaru piped up, making his way leisurely towards them with his hands stuffed into his pockets. "Good to see you again, Naruto. Uchiha."

"You knew?" Naruto asked surprised. Shikamaru had never once given an inkling that he knew he and Sasuke were together.

The other boy shrugged. "I had some strong suspicions, yeah. How was your break?"

They all ignored Kiba spluttering and whining that he wasn't slow when they made their way to their new classroom, talking and laughing.

* * *

It had taken them months, but the girls in their class – and ones in other classes too – finally seemed to have realised that their beloved 'Sasuke-kun' was no longer single. Mum hadn't exaggerated about their scents being mixed together heavily, because it only took an hour before news spread throughout the school that Uchiha Sasuke was dating the new kid Uzumaki Naruto – although how 'new' he could still be after having attended this school for a year already was beyond his comprehension.

He didn't think much of it at first. Sure, he'd realised that as soon as the news broke out that he was with Sasuke, a lot of people wouldn't be happy about it, but he hadn't really considered what kind of consequences that would lead to.

It started with the glares, the eyes that shot venomous looks at him whenever he passed by a group of girls. It made him a bit nervous to see the anger and jealousy so openly displayed on their faces – why were they even angry? They'd had their chance and they'd blown it – but he told himself not to worry too much about it. What could they even do aside from trying to glare him to death?

Friday had him staying home because he had his heat and Sasuke stayed away from the house, not wanting to risk being overwhelmed again. It made Naruto decide that they really, _really_ needed to have a conversation about spending his heat together, because if he'd had to go through one more heat without his boyfriend, he was going to _explode_.

Needless to say he was quite frustrated when he went back to school on Monday. That was when the whispers started and he realised for the first time just how vicious people could be, even towards others who'd never done them any harm.

" _Did you hear why Uzumaki transferred to this school?"_

" _No, why? Did he get into a fight? Oh, was he suspended?"_

" _No, none of that. Apparently he was quite 'popular' there if you get what I mean."_ A mean giggle. _"Went through several guys in his class before he latched on to one of the teachers there and when word got out about that, they needed to move."_

" _I heard he fucked ten guys at his previous school! Can't imagine how loose he must be now!"_

" _How can Sasuke-kun even sleep with him? Reckon he doesn't know what kind of slut he's fucking?"_

" _He probably doesn't. Want to bet he lied and said he was a virgin still?"_

" _If that guy was still a virgin when he slept with Sasuke-kun, I'm the queen of England!"_ More honing laughter.

" _God, I hope for Sasuke-kun that that whore won't give him any diseases. Imagine!"_

" _I heard he got pregnant from one of the guys he fucked at his previous school and got an abortion! Maybe he's thinking of trapping Sasuke-kun like that!"_

On and on it went; the vicious whispers following him wherever he went in the school. They were smart enough to keep their mouths shut when Sasuke was nearby, but when Naruto was alone he was a free target for them.

It made both his blood boil and made him want to weep from frustration. What the hell had he ever done to them that they were spreading such malicious lies about him? He was together with Sasuke, so fucking what? They'd had their chance for years and they either didn't grab it or were rejected – how the fuck was that his fault?

Why the hell couldn't they just leave him alone?

"Maybe you should talk to Uchiha about it," Shikamaru murmured, watching how a small group of girls walked past them, giggling and pointing at Naruto.

While Sasuke might not have picked up on the rumours setting the school abuzz – he'd never cared for them before and wasn't about to start listening to them now, which was the only thing Naruto had going for him now – Shikamaru and Kiba definitely had. It was difficult not to hear the whispers when even their own classmates Yamanaka and Haruno joined in the fray and gossiped shamelessly about Naruto while he was standing close to them. Kiba had lashed out more than once already, shutting up the gossiping girls, but his actions didn't have long lasting results unfortunately.

"That will only make him pissed off," Naruto refused, grinding his teeth together and quickening his pace to reach the gym. "It's just gossip; I can handle it."

"Naruto, you shouldn't have to. We can go together to the teacher if you want me to," Shikamaru insisted, scowling at another girl who nudged her friend's shoulder when Naruto passed them.

"Look, I appreciate you wanting to help me, but it's fine, Shikamaru." Naruto forced a smile on his face. "They're just jealous because Sasuke was never interested in them. If I don't react, they'll get bored eventually. All they have is gossip and if they want to be pathetic losers and talk shit about me, that's on them."

Shikamaru frowned and released his breath slowly. "Fine, but if they're still gossiping about you in a few weeks, you really should tell someone about it. Let Uchiha go off on them, that'll shut them up quickly."

"I will, I promise. Let's just get ready for gym, all right? I don't want to keep talking about this," Naruto muttered, swinging open the door of the locker room.

Black eyes met his instantly and he relaxed, making his way to Sasuke, who'd kept the locker next to his free for the blond. They shared a quick kiss before Naruto set about changing into his gym clothes.

Let those bitches talk out of their arses. In the end he still had Sasuke – something they could only dream of.

* * *

A week later Kiba, Hinata and Shikamaru helped Naruto tear down several flyers in the bathrooms which had Naruto's home phone number printed on them with the message: _"If you're looking for some fun, call Uzumaki! Just make sure to wear a condom just in case!_ _😉"_

Shikamaru started cautiously, crumpling the flyers together, "Naruto, don't you think it's time you - "

"No, okay!" he snapped, ripping off the last one, ignoring the sheen of tears which made his eyesight blurry. "This is just stupid bullshit! There's no need to worry my parents or Sasuke with this!"

"Shikamaru is right, you know," Kiba said, uncharacteristically subdued. "This is going beyond gossip now. They can't do shit like this, Naruto. They need to be - "

"I said no!" His voice rebounded through the small bathroom, bouncing back from the tiles, and he stood there trembling; his hands balled into fists and feeling like he would break down any second now.

"All right, I'll get rid of these papers," Kiba said softly, prying the crumpled paper out of Naruto's hand. "Hinata-chan, you're going to help me?"

Worrying her lip between her teeth, she nodded and after a quick hug and a hesitant kiss on Naruto's cheek, she followed her boyfriend out of the bathroom.

"This can't go on, Naruto," Shikamaru said quietly, solemnly. He was leaning against the sink, his arms crossed, and his dark eyes sparking with anger on his friend's behalf. "They're going too far now. Something needs to be done."

"I can handle it," Naruto said stubbornly, wiping the back of his hand angrily across his eyes.

"One more week and if they keep this up, I'm going to the headmaster myself," Shikamaru warned him, straightening up. "I'm not going to let them harass you any longer. And either you tell Uchiha about this soon or I will."

He left swiftly, leaving Naruto behind in the middle of the bathroom.

Wondering how things had gone wrong so quickly when all he'd wanted was to finish his last year in peace.

He splashed some cold water in his face, hoping futile it would counter his reddened eyes somewhat, and walked out of the bathroom.

Straight into Sasuke's chest.

"Oh, Sasuke!" He took a step back, startled. "Weren't you discussing something with Umino-sensei?"

"He just needed to talk to me about the test I took." Sasuke shrugged before his eyes sharpened. "What's wrong? You look like you've been crying. Did someone hurt you?"

Chuckling weakly, Naruto shook his head. "No, don't worry about it. Just not feeling well right now. I think lunch did a real number on my stomach."

"I told you that meat looked weird," Sasuke scolded him before worry crept into his voice. "You want me to bring you home? I'm sure our teachers will understand."

"Nah, I'll be fine. Just two more hours anyway," Naruto retorted lightly, and couldn't help but smile when Sasuke took his hand. "You coming over to my place after school?"

"Of course." The look on Sasuke's face that said ' _Are you stupid? Where else would I go?_ ' had Naruto's smile broadening just a tad and he squeezed the Alpha's fingers.

He'd be fine as long as he had Sasuke.

* * *

On Thursday mum and dad hugged him goodbye in the morning. Naruto's class would spend five days in a hostel near the mountains. The trip was considered to be a way to bond with each other for the last time, as their paths would separate once they graduated.

To be honest, Naruto had actually considered faking being ill so that he could stay home and avoid spending five full days with the girls who were making his life a hell at school. However, he didn't want to make Sasuke or his parents suspicious – especially his parents, because they knew he barely got ill – and most importantly: he didn't want to give those bitches the satisfaction of driving him away from a class trip. They were the ones in the wrong, not him, and he wasn't about to back down.

Still, it was with quite some apprehension that he stepped onto the bus and he took advantage of the couple of hours they had ahead of them to snuggle into Sasuke's shoulder and catch a bit more sleep.

If sleeping also allowed him to ignore the glares some girls threw him, well, that was neither here or there.

* * *

"How bad can your aim be, Kiba?" Naruto laughed in disbelief, watching the ball sail over his head, straight into the forest.

It was day two of the trip and while their teachers were setting up a room for the next activity, some guys had decided to play football to pass the time. Their hostel bordered the woods surrounding the mountains, and they'd gone to the clearing closest to the building, figuring that one would be large enough to play a decent game.

Trust Kiba to suck at aiming.

"I slipped on the grass!" Kiba huffed, while some of the other guys snickered. "I'll go - "

"Guys! Come on, it's time for the next activity!" Umino-sensei hollered, waving at them.

"I'll go grab the ball, I'm closest," Naruto said, stretching his arms.

"You sure, man?" Kiba furrowed his eyebrows.

The blond waved his hand. "Yeah, yeah, I'll be right behind you."

"All right, I'll let Umino know," Kiba promised and jogged away, following the other guys.

"No more football for Kiba," Naruto muttered, trudging through the bushes. He hoped Sasuke would save him a seat for whatever activity they had to do next.

The noise of the guys talking died out, leaving only the rustling wind and the chirping birds behind. It was a rather nice day with the sun having forced itself through the clouds and he thought it was a shame they had to spend it inside. Why couldn't they have one of those bonding exercises outside?

"Where the hell did he kick that ball?" he mumbled annoyed when he couldn't immediately spot the white black checkered ball. How far did Kiba even kick the ball? It couldn't have been that far, surely?

Something white flashed in the corner of his eye and he whipped his head in that direction, a triumphant noise escaping him when he saw the ball wedged deeply into a large bush. Making his way over to it, he couldn't help but glance warily at the way the ground sloped dangerously low to the right of the bush. He hadn't realised they'd been playing on a hill and he wasn't particularly in the mood to find out just how high they were up, so he'd have to be really careful when plucking the ball from between the thorny grasps of the bush.

"Come on." He tugged at the ball, trying to avoid the thorns as much as possible, and held it close against his chest when the branches finally gave it up. Taking a few steps away from the bush, glowering when some of the thorns snagged at his jeans, he turned around to make his way back to the hostel.

Something – _was that a fucking rock, holy shit!_ – sailed past right in front of his face and he shouted in surprise, losing his balance.

For a couple of seconds – ones which felt both too long and too short – he experienced the sensation of weightlessness, of gravity temporarily abandoning him. Then he tipped backwards and he only had one second to realise that he really shouldn't be able to look up at the sky like this before the air was slammed straight out of his chest when he smacked against the ground.

"FUCK!" He grappled at a tree root sticking up out of the ground, but it was too late. The ball flew out of his hands and he rolled down the hill at a frightening speed, grunting in pain every time his body made rough impact with the ground. His attempts to anchor himself, to grab something to slow his fall, were thwarted by gravity and he couldn't get enough air inside his lungs to scream.

The world spun around him, sky and earth switching each other off at a speed that made him nauseous, and then his head cracked against something hard, pain exploding instantly.

Everything turned dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN2: *shrugs* Just going where the story leads me, guys. I've basically handed over all control to this story (which explains why they were so horny at the start *coughs* )
> 
> Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
> 
> I hope to see you all back in the next chapter!
> 
> Cuddles
> 
> Melissa


	9. Growing Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: Many apologies for the delay! Originally this chapter was meant to be posted on Friday, but I've been quite tired these past two weeks and life in general has been a bit shitty, so finishing this chapter was harder than I thought it would be. So I apologise for the delay, but here it is finally!
> 
> Thanks for all the comments and kudos! Seriously, guys, already almost 900 kudos? >////< I'm seriously overwhelmed by your support, thank you so much!
> 
> Warnings: a bit of drama; mature content; some fluff
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
> 
> I hope you'll like it!

_9 Growing Part 2_

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… …

… …

He only caught snatches. The ground vibrated underneath him when something large and quick hurried over to him. Something touched his cheek, patted it. He thought his head was tilted up, but he wasn't sure.

"-an you wake up for me?" a low voice demanded and he tried to, he really did. His eyelids trembled, he caught a sliver of something dark with above the blue sky.

"Naruto? You with me?"

He blinked slowly, parted his lips and –

Lost consciousness once more.

* * *

"You scared the hell out of us," Shikamaru said quietly, leaning forwards in the chair.

"Sorry," Naruto grimaced, touching the bandage around his head gingerly. He had woken up an hour ago to find himself in a small room with one bed. He thought it must be located somewhere on the ground floor, but he wasn't sure.

A doctor of the nearby village had come by to check up on him and had declared he had a light concussion, bruises on his legs and arms and his hands had got scraped up badly when he'd tried to stop his fall. They had been disinfected just in case and covered with thin gauze. A few days of rest would have him as good as new, the doctor had reassured him before leaving the room. Of course that meant he wouldn't be able to participate in any of the games they would play for the rest of their stay here.

He'd been told that Sasuke had found him and brought him inside, but he hadn't seen his boyfriend since he'd woken up and that made him curious. Considering his proclivity for being protective – sometimes a bit too – over Naruto, it was odd that the Alpha wasn't here with him.

"Where's Sasuke?" he asked, lowering his hand to his lap. His headache was starting to lessen thanks to the painkillers he'd been given.

"On a warpath most likely," Shikamaru replied blankly, dangling his hands between his legs.

"On a warpath? What for?" the Omega asked perplexed.

Shikamaru rubbed across his mouth. "He found out what the girls have been doing these past few weeks."

It felt like a bucket of ice water was dropped on top of him. "He knows? Who the hell told him?" Naruto snapped, panic and anger warring with each other as he clenched his hands around the edge of the thin blanket thrown over his legs.

"Nobody," the other boy told him, raising an eyebrow. "He found out on his own. Although given what happened, we should have told him sooner." His face darkened and his eyebrows drew together in a deep frown.

"How did he find out on his own?" Naruto frowned, confused now. If nobody had blabbed, then how could Sasuke possibly know what had happened these past few weeks?

"Because Ino was stupid enough to make a comment about you when he asked where you were," Shikamaru replied and sighed. "I don't think she'll be that stupid again after the way he reacted."

"Wait, how did he react?" Naruto inquired alarmed. A part of him wondered just what exactly the blonde girl had said that would have made Sasuke made, but a bigger part of him just didn't want to know. Especially not after having heard some of the things they'd been saying about him for a few weeks now.

The other boy scratched his nose and cleared his throat. "Not well, let's just keep it at that," he said and for the first time since Naruto knew him, he sounded uncomfortable.

"That doesn't tell me anything," the blond complained before he sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. "Can you find him? I'd go looking for him, but when I tried to get out of bed earlier, Umino-sensei stopped me," he said sourly.

One would think he'd broken his legs with the way Umino had reacted to seeing him out of bed. It was just a headache and some bruises; he'd be fine in no time!

"Sure, I'll go." Shikamaru stood up and stretched his arms before leaving the room, leaving the door ajar.

There were people moving about in the hallway, but none of them entered the room and Naruto wondered what was happening now. Umino had been the one to ask him what had happened once he'd been completely conscious again, but the Omega hadn't been able to tell him much. He'd been looking for the ball and then someone had thrown a rock at him – because it had to have been a person; rocks didn't just fly through the air on their own – causing him to lose his balance and tumble down the hill.

He hadn't seen who had thrown the stone and he very much doubted that person would admit to being the one who'd done that. It probably had been a girl, considering how they had acted the last couple of weeks, but that wouldn't really help the teachers narrowing the list down – practically every girl, bar some exceptions like Tenten and Hinata, really disliked Naruto for being the one who could call himself Sasuke's mate.

"Naruto, er, Uchiha will be here soon." Shikamaru popped his head back into the room. "He's talking with one of the teachers at the moment, but I told him you're waiting."

"Oh okay, thanks," Naruto said surprised. "What is he - "

But Shikamaru was already gone. "-talking about," Naruto finished and sighed, sliding down a bit so that he could rest his head against a propped up pillow. Hopefully he wouldn't have to spend the rest of the trip in this room; he was already feeling bored and he hadn't even been awake for more than an hour yet.

He wondered whether a teacher had called his parents to tell them about this and winced. He hoped not, because both mum and dad would become too worried while that wasn't even necessary. He could already imagine how pissed off mum would be if she found out that the girls had been harassing him and grimaced; an angry mum was never a pretty sight. Dad would be backing her up and god, what if they actually tried to place charges against the girls? He wasn't sure whether that was even possible nor did he know on which ground the charges could be placed, but his parents were both police and would actually go that far if they thought that was necessary.

He really hoped nobody had called his parents yet – or at the very least hadn't told them the complete truth.

When the door opened again, it was to reveal Sasuke standing there; his face utterly blank, but his fingers gripping the doorknob so hard his knuckles turned white.

"Hey there, stranger," Naruto teased, but his joke fell flat and he sighed, dropping his smile. "I'm okay."

"You fell down a hill, hit your head and lost consciousness," Sasuke stated flatly, entering the room and closing the door behind him. "You're not okay."

Pursing his lips, Naruto retorted petulantly, "I've just got some bruises and a headache - "

"A concussion."

"A light one," Naruto said dismissively and went on, "And that's it. Honestly it sounds worse than it is, I promise. The only reason why I'm still in bed is because Umino-sensei started almost yelling when I got out of it."

"You need to rest," Sasuke said instantly. He came to a halt right next to the bed and when the blond glanced down, he noticed the Alpha's clenched fists. "Why didn't you tell me what they were doing to you?" He sounded equally parts frustrated and hurt and Naruto looked away.

"I thought if I ignored them, they would give up," he muttered, squeezing the blanket.

"You should have told me about - "

"Just because I'm an Omega doesn't mean I can't take care of myself," Naruto said tersely, cutting off the dark haired man.

Sasuke reared back for a brief moment before he scowled. "That's not what I meant and you know it," he snapped, crossing his arms. "I had to hear they've been harassing you for weeks just because I'm together with you; how do you think that makes me feel? I didn't even realise something was wrong."

"I didn't …" Naruto scrubbed his face harshly in frustration. "I told them to keep quiet about it, okay? I didn't want to worry you and I thought they'd give up soon if I didn't react."

"Clearly you thought wrong," Sasuke said sharply; his whole body so tense it hurt Naruto's own muscles to look at him.

The urge to keep arguing, to defend his decision, was there, surging through him, but he pushed it down forcefully and took a deep breath. "Look, I don't want to fight with you about this, okay? They're not worth it. Can't we just – can you lie down next to me?"

Sasuke stared down at him for a while, emotions flitting through his eyes too quickly for Naruto to decipher them before he glanced away. "I should have realised something was wrong," he mumbled, his voice muffled so badly the blond almost didn't understand him.

When he realised what the other boy had said, his chest momentarily felt like someone was squeezing it. "Hey," he said softly, reaching out with his hand. "I'm sorry. I should have told you."

"You should have," was the Alpha's quick retort, but the fight had drained out of his voice and he grabbed Naruto's hand, climbing into the bed. They shuffled around a bit, until Naruto ended up with his head resting on Sasuke's shoulder, his leg thrown across firm thighs and Sasuke's cheek resting on top of his head.

"They went too far," he said quietly, his one hand resting on Naruto's side while the other was clasped around his shoulder, rubbing slow circles into it.

"Yeah," Naruto agreed quietly and closed his eyes for a moment, inhaling the Alpha's spicy, comforting scent. It was easier to not pay attention to his bruises or the lingering aches when lying flush against him. The Alpha's body heat seeped through their clothes and the blond relaxed. "What did you and the teacher talk about? All Shikamaru said was that you were talking with one of them before coming here."

Sasuke stirred and released his breath slowly, ruffling blond strands. "Oh that. I'm suspended for three days starting from the moment we're home again," he answered.

His tone was so casual, so bland, Naruto started nodding his head before he realised what Sasuke had actually said.

"YOU'RE WHAT?!"

* * *

Sasuke remained vague about the reasons why he'd got suspended. Apparently after Ino's remark – whatever that had been – he'd lashed out and his reaction had been bad enough to warrant three days suspension. According to the gossip between the teachers – and which Naruto had overheard when he'd been about to leave the bathroom when the teachers had been passing by – Sasuke's reaction normally resulted in at least a week suspension, if not longer.

Due to the circumstances, however, - meaning Naruto being harassed by the girls – they had decided that Sasuke's reaction was to be excused as he'd been concerned about his boyfriend.

"He didn't tell you what exactly he did?" Gaara raised an eyebrow, his green eyes flickering briefly towards the Alpha who had just finished throwing his opponent over his shoulder for the fifth time in less than twenty minutes.

"No, he's vague about it," Naruto grimaced, kicking his legs out and leaning back into the chair.

It was the first day of Sasuke's suspension and yet another day of Naruto's forced rest. He felt fine, just some lingering bruises that he forgot about until he saw them, but his parents had insisted he remained home for a few more days to rest. Granted, Naruto would accept any excuse not to have to go to classes, but he didn't like all the fussing he had to endure. He'd thought it would be better once mum and dad went back to work, but it seemed that Sasuke was determined to make up for their absence by fussing twice as hard.

Like now: Sasuke had been too restless to stay at home, so he and Naruto had gone to Gaara's dojo, but the blond had been forbidden from actually training. He'd hoped that the red haired Alpha would be more lenient, but once Sasuke had explained – or more like grunted – that Naruto was supposed to rest, Gaara had simply dragged out a chair from the back office and had plunked it down in front of the blond, pointing at it.

So here Naruto sat now: watching Sasuke work out his frustrations from his seat on the chair.

"Well, whatever he did, that girl deserved it," Gaara said flatly, crossing his arms. "This is why I'm glad I don't have to deal with petty school feuds anymore."

"It's weird, though," Naruto commented, frowning. "The other guys keep vague about it as well. It must have been something serious if they actually went as far as giving him suspension."

"I wouldn't worry about it," Gaara said dismissively. "Those girls should have known better than to harass you."

"I know," the Omega sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I just hate how on edge he is now, you know? I didn't tell him precisely because I didn't want to worry him."

Gaara snorted and shook his head. "You're one of the very few people he cares about; it's normal that he's so on edge now. Give him some time," he murmured. "And don't keep things like this from him anymore. That will only makes things worse."

"I know," Naruto muttered, a bit petulantly. "Not like that's the first time I've been told that. I just didn't want to worry him, is that so bad?"

"It's not bad, but it's also not what Sasuke needs," Gaara said knowingly before making his way to a girl who'd just entered the dojo.

Pursing his lips, Naruto watched Sasuke square off against his opponent again. Mulling over Gaara's words, he wondered whether the red haired man knew more about Sasuke's past than he'd let on. His comment was clearly a veiled reference to Sasuke having felt helpless during his family's murder. Had Naruto unknowingly made Sasuke feel that way again by keeping quiet about the harassment? That hadn't been his intention at all; he just hadn't wanted the Alpha to worry about him like he was doing now.

Well, nothing much he could do about it anymore. What had happened, had happened, and considering how the girls had avoided both Naruto and Sasuke during the last couple of days of their trip, he'd wager a guess and say he wouldn't have to worry about being bothered by them anymore. Whatever Sasuke had done, it clearly had left an impression behind.

Black eyes met his for a brief moment and Sasuke's features softened before he turned back and blocked the other guy's attack, smacking him down to the matt hard.

Naruto winced and crossed his legs. It looked like they were going to be here for a while.

* * *

"I know you're feeling better, but a bit more rest won't hurt you," Mum clucked her tongue and kissed his forehead.

"Mum, I've literally been resting since last Friday and it's Wednesday now," Naruto protested, rubbing his forehead. "I'm fine!"

"The doctor said you needed to rest for a week," she reminded him, pursing her lips before whirling around to Sasuke and pointing her finger at him. "Sasuke-kun, make sure he rests, all right? Tie him down in his bed if you have to."

Naruto choked and Sasuke hid his smirk behind his cup of coffee. He was leaning against the kitchen counter, still dressed in his sleepwear. Since coming back from the trip, he'd only stopped by his own home to pick up some fresh clothes before crashing at Naruto's place. Naruto didn't mind that at all, but Sasuke was annoyingly good at listening to his parents' orders.

"I have to leave now; your dad's waiting in the car," she muttered distracted, clicking her belt around her waist. "All right, sweethearts, I'll be back tonight! Naruto, rest!"

She was gone before Naruto could offer another storm of protest and he huffed, standing up and shoving his chair back against the table.

"You want to start on that homework Kiba brought?" he asked, draining his cup of milk. "Or watch a movie or so?"

When he looked up, he was just in time to see the Alpha sporting a strange look before he shook his head. "Dishes first, then homework," he decided, placing his own mug down on the counter in order to collect the dirty plates. "We can watch a movie afterwards. Although, you heard your mum – you should be resting." He was definitely smirking now, the smile deepening when he walked past Naruto to peck his lips and got his arse smacked in response.

"I've rested enough," Naruto grumbled, stretching his arms. "You're going to help me with mathematics?"

"You're going to accept no for an answer?" Sasuke asked lightly, turning the tap and letting the water gush into the sink.

Grinning Naruto stepped up behind him and wrapped his arms around his waist. "I'll make it worth your while," he said in a sing song voice, pressing himself up against his back.

"Yeah?" Sasuke briefly turned around to kiss him, his dark eyes glistening. "I'm looking forward to that."

Heat flared up in his lower stomach and Naruto bit his lip, failing to supress a smile when he turned around to clean the table. Maybe another day of rest wouldn't be that bad.

* * *

"I'm done!" Naruto declared, throwing his pencil down and throwing his hands up in the air, stretching his back with a low groan.

"You worked fast," Sasuke noted absentmindedly; his own pencil scratching on the paper as he wrote down the answers to the biology question sheet.

"Well, yeah," Naruto wrinkled his nose and shoved his homework in his bag, "I did have some incentive."

"Oh yeah?" Sasuke definitely sounded amused now, even as he continued diligently writing down his answers. "And what kind of incentive is that?"

Dumping his bag on the floor, Naruto rose up from the bed and drew closer to the dark haired boy seated at his desk. Leaning down he slipped his arms around broad shoulders, linking his hands together across the Alpha's chest. "We've still got several hours before my parents are back," he murmured in Sasuke's ear. "I remember promising making it worth your while if you helped me out with mathematics."

"Aren't you supposed to be resting?" Sasuke asked innocently, but his pencil hovered above the paper, evidence that the blond had his complete attention.

Nipping playfully at Sasuke's ear, Naruto replied lightly, "How about I show you how well rested I am?" He swiftly turned the swivel chair around, grinning down at Sasuke.

"I'm still busy with homework," Sasuke remarked, but his hands were straying underneath Naruto's shirt, palming his sides.

Casting a quick look at the question sheet on the desk, the blond raised an eyebrow and countered, "You're working on the questions assigned for next week; you can take a break."

"You're rather bossy today," Sasuke commented but let himself be pulled up.

"We've got the house to ourselves, might as well make use of it," Naruto hummed, dragging the other boy to his bed. He pushed the Alpha down on it before crawling into his lap. He wiggled slightly when hands settled onto his hips, lust flaring up when he felt Sasuke slowly hardening underneath him.

"You got anything in mind?" Sasuke murmured, eyes half lidded, and he let his body recline against the mattress; his hands now rubbing up and down across the Omega's thighs.

"You'll see," Naruto hummed and set about getting both their clothes off. There was some wrestling with the buttons of jeans involved, but it didn't take long before they both ended up naked, the blond still on top.

Leaning down, bracing his arms against the mattress, he caught Sasuke's mouth in a deep kiss; a thrill shooting through him when warm hands settled on his arse cheeks and squeezed firmly. Rolling his hips against Sasuke's, their cocks brushed against each other, sending sparks of pleasure through Naruto; their groans swallowed up by their lips.

As his lips and tongue mapped out a path from Sasuke's neck, the Alpha's fingers of his right hand slipped between Naruto's cheeks, brushing against his entrance, while his other hand went back up, caressing his hip and side before flicking his thumb across one of Naruto's nipples, making him hiss softly. It was ridiculous how sensitive his nipples were and of course Sasuke had taken notice of that particular fact. The dark haired boy delighted in the reactions he could pull from his mate by doing something as simple as just brushing against his nipples.

If he paid attention to them long enough, he could easily turn the younger boy into nothing but a quivering pile of mess. That wasn't even an exaggeration; one afternoon Sasuke had been determined to see just how crazy he could drive Naruto by only touching his nipples. To this day Naruto still refused to admit he'd been practically mewling by the time Sasuke had finally stopped torturing him and let him come.

A shuddering breath escaped him when, at the same time Sasuke pinched his nipple, a finger slipped inside the Omega, aided by the liberal amount of slick that was already coating his inner walls and rim. It didn't take long before a second finger was added and Naruto would feel embarrassed about the slick sounds that could be occasionally heard as Sasuke pumped his fingers in and out, spreading them occasionally, but one look at burning, dark eyes made it quite clear that Sasuke didn't mind the sounds at all.

Sasuke barely had time to add a third finger before Naruto pulled back, panting slightly. "I'm ready, come on," he said breathlessly, rising up on his knees and pushing Sasuke's hand away.

Hovering above Sasuke's hips, Naruto reached backwards with his hand to grab Sasuke's cock, imagining he could feel it throb when he wrapped his fingers around it. Steadying himself, he slowly lowered himself on Sasuke's dick, breathing through his mouth as his muscles were forced to stretch around the thick girth. The sensation of being full was almost overwhelming and he paused when his arse came to rest on Sasuke's thighs, adjusting to the new intrusion, bigger than those two fingers had been.

Sasuke's hands were clamped down around his waist and his chest was heaving up and down. "You okay?" he asked, jaw visibly clenched.

"Yeah, I am," Naruto breathed out and tentatively started rocking back and forth, keeping one hand on Sasuke's thigh to balance himself.

Sasuke surged up, catching Naruto by surprise who faltered and almost toppled off, and kissed him, hard enough to bruise as one hand slid into blond hair, fingers tightening around the strands. Naruto moaned, kissing Sasuke eagerly back as he started moving up and down, his muscles squeezing around Sasuke's cock every time he lifted up, as if his body was reluctant to let go.

Clasping his arms around Sasuke's shoulders, Naruto tried to move faster, but the hand still clamped around his hip prevented him from moving quicker and he opened his eyes, rolling his head to the side when Sasuke started sucking the spot right underneath his left ear.

"Hngh, I want to go – go faster," Naruto panted, groaning loudly when Sasuke shifted underneath him, the new angle causing the tip of his cock to press against the Omega's sweet spot every time he lowered himself down.

"This is fine," Sasuke muttered. His cheeks were flushed and his lips were swollen when he pulled back briefly.

When Naruto studied him more intently, ignoring the pleasure simmering in his lower belly for the moment, he caught the cautious look flashing through black eyes before Sasuke adjusted his grip on Naruto's hip. As if he was trying to be _careful_ with the blond.

Any other time and Naruto would have appreciated the sentiment, but now he just wanted to be fucked by his boyfriend and not handled like some delicate china. He wasn't going to break, damn it!

Bending down to Sasuke's ear, he demanded, "I want you to fuck me! Are you up for that or do I have to do it on my own?"

Like a switch had been flicked on, his question had Sasuke snarling and he was left gasping for air when the Alpha suddenly twisted their bodies around. His legs were thrown over Sasuke's shoulders and a choked moan flitted through his lips when Sasuke pushed roughly inside again, going deeper than he'd been before. Naruto could do nothing but clutch Sasuke's shoulders tightly, gasping and whimpering as the Alpha set a rough pace; his hips slamming against his arse.

"S-S-Sasuke," he stammered, digging his nails deeper into slick skin as pleasure pooled in his stomach, the heat spreading quickly throughout his body, making him shudder and quiver every time Sasuke hit his prostate just right. The position they were in should be uncomfortable, him being bent nearly in two, but all he could focus on was Sasuke filling him over and over again, his dick trapped between their bellies, and Sasuke's hand clutching his hip.

"This fast enough for you?" Sasuke growled, eyes flashing, before he captured Naruto's mouth in a rough kiss, his tongue slipping past parted lips.

Naruto tried to answer, but his head was swimming, their combined scents driving him crazy, and when Sasuke thrusted inside next, his climax was ripped out of him and he threw his head back with a choked scream, squeezing his eyes shut as he came, spraying both their stomachs.

His muscles clamped down harshly around Sasuke's cock and the boy cursed, before burying his face in Naruto's shoulder, muffling his moans when he came too, coating the Omega's inner walls.

They stayed like that for a little while until they had calmed down and when Sasuke carefully lowered Naruto's legs, the blond couldn't help but groan slightly; the burn in his muscles impossible to ignore now that he no longer was distracted. He felt like he'd ran a marathon, his heart still beating quickly, and he turned onto his side with some difficulty, slapping his hand down on Sasuke's chest when the dark haired boy dropped down next to him.

"Don't blame me if your mum comments on the smell," Sasuke muttered, sounding a bit drowsy. He was still alert enough to pull them both out of the wet spot, his arm remaining wrapped around the Omega's shoulders.

Throwing his leg across Sasuke's, Naruto snorted. "We'll take a shower and air out the room," he mumbled sleepily, his eyes threatening to close.

Sasuke uttered a non-committal sound, turning his head to press a soft kiss on Naruto's forehead.

"I don't break, you know," Naruto said quietly after a moment of hesitation. He felt Sasuke stiffen underneath him and he lifted his head. "I get that you want to protect me, I do," he went on, capturing Sasuke's gaze and holding it. The other boy looked ready to bolt and Naruto tightened his arm around Sasuke's chest.

"And I shouldn't have kept quiet about it, but I'm fine, I promise. I don't want you to treat me like I'm going to break any moment now, because I'm not," he said forcefully. "All I've got left are some bruises and those will heal too. I don't want you to keep beating yourself up over this, okay? It's not your fault."

For a couple of seconds it looked like Sasuke was on the verge of protesting, his eyes narrowing slightly and his lips thinning, before his breath escaped him rather explosively and he jerked his head down in a nod. "Yeah, okay."

"I mean it, Sasuke." This time blue eyes narrowed. "This whole bullshit is not your fault and I'm not weak, okay?"

"I know you're not weak," Sasuke retorted, smiling faintly and he relaxed slowly. "Just – promise me you'll tell me if someone still bothers you, okay? This has nothing to do with you being weak or strong – I just want to help out my mate, is that so wrong? You'd do the same for me."

"I guess so," Naruto grumbled, laying his head down on Sasuke's shoulder. "Just stop feeling guilty about it, all right? Because that's stupid."

"If you say so," Sasuke paused and added, smirking now, "Your pillow talk can use some improvement, though. Seriously, talking about that right after we've had sex?"

"Just shut up, all right?" Naruto laughed and smacked Sasuke's arm. When he glanced up, dark eyes were noticeably lighter, the tense lines across those eyes smoothed out.

Snuggling up against Sasuke, paying no attention to the way they were both still sticky and sweaty, Naruto smiled and kissed Sasuke's shoulder.

Things would go back to normal, he knew.

* * *

Sasuke was allowed to go back to school on Friday and even though officially Naruto was still supposed to stay home and rest, he insisted on going to school as well. It wasn't like he was looking forward to sitting through several boring classes, but the alternative was sitting alone and bored at home – which wasn't much of an improvement. At least at school he had his friends and Sasuke to talk to.

Contrarily to the past couple of weeks, most girls now avoided him, not daring to look him right in the eye. When he did catch their gazes, they were quick to look away, embarrassment colouring their faces. If they happened to catch Sasuke's eyes, they flinched and turned away, making themselves smaller as if wanting to hide from his glare.

A dark part in Naruto was satisfied to see that, enjoying the fact that they were clearly ashamed of their behaviour during the past few weeks. It was the least they deserved for the bullshit they had pulled.

"Where's Haruno?" he questioned during lunch, when he still hadn't seen the pink haired girl. Not that he was particularly interested in her, but he thought it was odd that he hadn't seen her in class so far. She and Yamanaka were practically joined at the hip, but now Yamanaka was sitting alone at a table, a frown marring her forehead as she stabbed her chopsticks in her bowl of rice.

"Is she sick or so?"

Kiba and Shikamaru shared a look. "You didn't hear it yet?" Kiba asked cautiously and Chouji paused, his chopsticks hovering in the air as he furrowed his eyebrows.

"Hear what?" Naruto blinked, absently dumping the cherry tomatoes in his lunch on Sasuke's plate.

"They discovered that she's the one who threw the rock at you," Shikamaru answered, a contemplative look on his face. "It's been classified as assault and until the police have decided what they're going to do, the school has suspended her for the time being."

"She's suspended?" Naruto repeated surprised. It didn't really surprise him that she'd been the one who had thrown the rock; it had to have been one of the girls in their class and she'd been particularly vicious with her poisonous remarks.

Next to him Sasuke kept eating, clearly not interested in the conversation.

"Yeah, indefinitely," Kiba nodded, drinking from his water bottle. "They might even suspend her for the rest of the year, which means she won't graduate with us."

"What a pity that would be," Sasuke muttered underneath his breath, just loud enough for the blond to hear him.

Naruto wrinkled his nose, but if he had to be honest, he couldn't say he felt sorry for the girl. She'd been the one who had taunted him, spread nasty rumours around and who had thrown a rock at him; whatever the consequences, she got what was coming to her.

"Excuse me! Can I have everyone's attention, please?"

Yamanaka's voice suddenly rang out through the room and abruptly everyone felt silent. Curious, Naruto turned his head and saw her standing on her chair. She had her arms crossed in front of her stomach and her cheeks were quite red for some reason, flushing even more when all eyes landed on her.

What was she planning?

"I just …" she faltered for a moment, biting her lip before continuing with a wavering voice, "I'm the one who started those rumours about Uzumaki. None of those are true. I only said those things because – because I was j-jealous and – and I wanted to hurt him. So I lied and said those things about him and tried to set up everyone against him. I'm really sorry."

Her voice was small near the end, nearly inaudible, and she fled out of the cafeteria before anyone could react, leaving the student body stunned behind. That didn't last long, though, and soon whispers filled the air, people questioning just what the hell had just happened. Some of them were chancing looks at Naruto, but none of them dared to approach him.

"Shit, I didn't think she would actually have the balls to do that in front of all these people," Kiba said perplexed. "Hell, I didn't even expect her to apologise!"

"Neither did I," Shikamaru murmured, but Naruto saw him looking speculatively at Sasuke and at once the blond realised just who was behind Ino's sudden change of heart.

The person in question just kept eating the rest of his lunch; albeit with a faint smirk lingering around his lips.

* * *

Later, when they were back home, Naruto crawled into Sasuke's lap, his knees digging into the couch cushion, and he linked his arms around his shoulders. He pecked his lips once, twice, thrice, before pulling back and cocking his head to the right.

"You were the one who convinced Yamanaka to apologise, aren't you?" he inquired knowingly.

Sasuke shrugged, looping his own arms around Naruto's waist. "And what if I am?"

"Did you tell her it had to be publicly?"

"She's the one who spread those nasty rumours about you around – the least she could do was apologise in public for those," Sasuke said coolly; his eyes hard.

Naruto worried his lip between his teeth. "She might get ridiculed by the others now," he remarked. Already people had started laughing behind her back, calling her pathetic for being jealous – even when they themselves had been eager to spread her rumours around just one week ago.

"Does it look like I care about that?" Sasuke said disinterestedly. "She made her bed, now she has to lay in it."

They looked at each other, the television behind them nothing more than background noise by now. Then Naruto nodded and kissed Sasuke again.

"Thanks," he muttered against soft lips, feeling his cheeks warm when Sasuke smiled back.

"You're welcome." Arms tightened around his waist, hugging him closer.

It seemed Sasuke had still found a way to protect Naruto after all. It made warmth bloom open in his chest and before he could think twice, before he could consider his words, his mouth opened and " _I love you,_ " rolled over his tongue and left his lips.

The confession hung suspended between them and Naruto stared at Sasuke, the shock in black eyes mirroring his own. Oh, that was … He hadn't really … He had said those words without realising it, but now that they were out, he was strangely okay with it. Sure, when he had thought about saying those words, he had thought it would have been in another context, like maybe right after they had had made love or just during a random night right before they would have fallen asleep.

The words were out now, though, his true feelings revealed, and he couldn't take them back. Didn't want to take them back.

The moment was broken when the front door opened and mum's voice drifted through the open door, "Hey, can you give me a hand? I went to pick up some stuff for dinner, but I bought a bit more than I planned."

"Er, sure, we'll help!" Naruto called back and they both made their way into the hallway, where mum pointed them towards the car, showing several bags in the trunk. They set about hauling the rest of the grocery bags inside and helped her with putting everything away while mum chattered about her day.

* * *

It was only when they lied in bed and the room was plunged in darkness, Sasuke spooning him from behind, that Naruto realised Sasuke had never said "I love you," back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN2: Still managed to crank out around 6K, which is honestly a miracle, because I didn't think I'd get this much written *sweatdrops* 
> 
> Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
> 
> I hope to see you all back in the next chapter and I wish you all Happy Holidays!
> 
> Cuddles
> 
> Melissa


	10. Growing Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: First of all, I wish you all a Happy New Year; may all your dreams come true this year! Now this chapter was supposed to be posted on Friday, but real life has sucked lately and if that reflects in any way in this chapter, I apologise for that. Let's just say I had a rough time finishing this one.
> 
> Thank you so much for all the kudos and comments! We're so close to a 1000 kudos, I barely can believe it! :O
> 
> Warnings: smidgen of angst; fluff; mature content; time skips
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
> 
> I hope you'll like this chapter!

_10 Growing Part 3_

He didn't make a big deal out of it. Sure, it would have been nice to hear Sasuke return the sentiment verbally, but the Alpha had never been a particularly loquacious guy. Besides, he didn't need to say it aloud; he was pretty good at showing it through the touches and affection he showered the Omega liberally with, to the way he knew what kind of drinks Naruto favoured and how he'd start massaging the blond's neck before the younger one even realised he could use some attention there.

Either Sasuke would say it eventually or he wouldn't; Naruto wasn't particularly bothered by it. For now he had a more interesting matter to attend to anyway.

"But it's Golden Week," Naruto said confused, halting his perusal of his game collection.

"Yeah, but Kakashi acts on his own schedule," Sasuke said and shrugged. He was lounging on the couch, waiting for the blond to decide on a game they could play. "I don't know why exactly he's gone for four days, just that he's going to be out of town."

"And that doesn't bother you?" Naruto furrowed his eyebrows, sitting back on his haunches.

A black eyebrow quirked up. "You think this is the first time he's leaving me on my own?" he scoffed. "It's not like we talk that much to each other anyway. It'll be nice not having to hear him running his stupid mouth off."

"So does that mean you'll be staying there then instead of here?" Naruto asked, an idea slowly unfolding in his mind.

"Yeah, we don't think anyone will try to break in, but just to be on the safe side."

"Right." The Omega nodded, rubbing his thighs briefly before standing up and plopping down on the low coffee table. "Can I stay over at your place during those four days then?"

"I don't see why ..." Sasuke cut himself off and narrowed his eyes, sitting up alert. "Your heat is next week," he said sharply.

It should be surprising that Sasuke was aware when his heat would start, but it wasn't. The guy carried a slick pad around just in case – it wasn't a surprise that he had memorised Naruto's heat schedule as well.

"Yeah," Naruto said slowly, twirling his thumbs around. Sounding more light-hearted than he felt like, he asked, "Want to share it with me?"

The dark haired boy looked conflicted. "I'm not sure, Naruto," he said slowly; his eyebrows drawn together.

"Why not?" Personally Naruto thought it was a great idea. He would no longer have to deal with the bone deep frustration and emptiness that every heat spent without his mate brought. The last couple of heats had been the worst, being able to smell Sasuke in his bed and on his clothes, but knowing that he wasn't physically there.

With Kakashi gone and school out for Golden Week, this would be the perfect moment to share his heat with Sasuke for the first time. Sure, in theory they could spend his heat at home too, but well … He really didn't want to spend his heat with Sasuke when his parents were just down the hallway. That was just … No. Absolutely not happening.

"Isn't it … Are you sure about this?" Sasuke questioned; his body oddly tense.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Isn't a heat … private?" Sasuke said haltingly.

Blue eyes blinked. "Well, I'm not going to ask a random person to share it with me," Naruto retorted incredulously. "But you're my boyfriend and we've had sex before, so it won't be weird. Unless you don't want it?" He actually hadn't considered that possibility. Sasuke had mentioned before that Naruto's heat scent tended to be quite overwhelming for him – perhaps sharing a heat would be too much for him?

"Of course I want to," Sasuke instantly answered, his cheeks pinking and Naruto grinned.

"Then what's the problem?"

The dark haired boy looked away. "I just thought – you're rather out of it during your heat," he said lowly. "Aren't you worried?"

"Worried about what?" the Omega asked confused, scratching the bridge of his nose. "You're with me and I trust you."

"That may be so, but …"

"Look, if you're not comfortable yet sharing my heat, just say so," Naruto said bluntly. "But don't try to hide behind your worry about me, because that's not necessary at all. Trust me, I'm more than ready to share my heat with you. Do you have any idea how miserable I've felt these past few heats because I could smell you, but I knew you weren't there? Being able to spend it with you will make my heat so much more bearable, _you have no idea_."

"I'm starting to have an idea," Sasuke murmured, turning his head to look at the blond.

"Erm, no, I doubt you do," Naruto snorted and crossed his arms. "Trust me, it's been driving me crazy, like up the wall crazy, and if you're down for fucking the heat out of me, I'm down for that too – like really enthusiastically down, this is me giving full consent to whatever you want to do with me during my heat."

An odd choking noise escaped the Alpha and he buried his face in his hands. "Don't just say it like that."

Impatiently Naruto leant forwards and flicked his knee. "Do you want to share my heat with me or not? If not, that's fine, I just need to know." _So that I can steal more of your shirts and possibly demand some phone calls_ , he added silently. He would never force Sasuke to do something he didn't want to do, but he needed something to get him through his upcoming heat and if that wouldn't be Sasuke himself, then he would at least need more of his scent and his voice if possible.

"Of course I want to share your heat with you," Sasuke said, looking up to scowl at him as if he was being ridiculous for asking it. "Are your parents okay with it, though?"

"My mum got me new suppressants and she knows we're having sex," Naruto reminded him.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Does she know that you want to stay over at my house for three to four days to spend your heat with me?" he asked sceptically.

The Omega pursed his lips. "Not exactly," he admitted begrudgingly. "I – that hasn't come up."

"Uhuh." Sasuke looked decidedly unimpressed. "So what, you were just going to disappear for three days without telling them?"

"I would have told them where I'd be going!" Naruto protested.

"You are not going to tell your parents you're spending your heat at my place _on the day you're leaving, Naruto_ ," Sasuke said tersely. "Ask your parents first."

"God, fine," Naruto groaned and huffed. "They're going to agree anyway, so it's a moot point asking them."

"Then ask just to be sure," Sasuke smiled sharply and inhaled deeply then. "Come on now, have you picked out a game or not?"

"Pushy, pushy," Naruto muttered, but went back to riffling through his collection. He just had to ask his parents later tonight about it, no biggie.

* * *

"You want to spend four days at Sasuke-kun's place while Kakashi-san is away on business," Mum repeated slowly, finishing washing up the plate before handing it over to dad to dry it off.

"Yep, can I?" Naruto asked casually. Sasuke was gone for a bit, picking up new clothes at his house before he would come back and the blond had figured this would be a good moment to ask his parents about staying over at the Alpha's place next week.

The look she gave him was mild mannered when she said, "Isn't your heat supposed to hit next week?"

"It might," he replied lightly, playing with the lip of his soda can.

"Naruto," Dad sighed, drying off the last plate and putting it on top of the others in the cupboard.

"What?"

"You can't just ask us whether you're allowed to spend your heat with Sasuke-kun?" Mum turned around and raised an eyebrow.

Naruto wrinkled his nose. "It's just weird asking it like that," he grumbled, his cheeks warming up.

She turned back to the dishes. "Does Sasuke-kun know you want to spend your heat with him?"

"Yeah, he's the one who said I should ask you first."

"Well, at least someone with some sense," Dad muttered, clucking his tongue when mum flicked some soap water at him.

"So, can I go stay with him?" Naruto asked hopefully, crossing his fingers beneath the table.

"I guess you can on the condition that you won't forget to take your pills," Mum said, throwing him a stern look. "I love you, but I'm not ready yet to be a grandmother. Even if the genes of you two would make a pretty adorable baby," she added wistfully, earning her two incredulous looks.

"I won't forget my pills, sheesh, ma," Naruto muttered, cheeks flaming hot, and scrambled up when he heard Sasuke's car pulling onto the driveway. "Sasuke's back! We'll be in my room, okay?"

He was already out of the kitchen before either one of his parents could say anything else.

Sasuke took one look at his face and asked lowly, "You asked them? What did they say?"

"They said yes, of course," Naruto scoffed, pecking his cheek in greeting. "You thought they would refuse?"

The dark haired boy shrugged, dropping his duffle bag with fresh clothes on the floor. "There's a difference between being okay with us having sex and being okay with us spending your heat together," he riposted primly.

"Yeah well, no worries, they're okay with it," Naruto reassured him, sliding his arms around the Alpha's waist. "Which means we'll be all alone together next week," he murmured, eyes half lidded and anticipation stirring in his lower belly.

The answering gleam in dark eyes only made him more impatient for next week to arrive.

* * *

Early Wednesday morning saw Naruto shoving clothes haphazardly in a bag, jittery as he flitted between his closet and the bag on the bed. He'd woken up because of his stomach cramping and he hadn't even needed the damp sensation between his cheeks to realise that his heat had arrived. It was good timing as today was the first day Kakashi was gone, so he and Sasuke would have the house all to themselves for the next four days.

First he would have to gather some clothes, grab his toothbrush, and of course his suppressants. The last thing he needed was not being able to graduate because he'd ended up pregnant.

Even if the thought of dark haired babies with …

_No, focus_. Sternly he shook his head and dumped his suppressants on top of his clothes. It was still way too soon to be having thoughts like that, but they were a bitch to shake during his heat; his inner Omega all too eager to provide mental images, humming with eagerness at finally having an Alpha during the heat.

His heat wasn't too bad yet as it was just starting and he hoped he'd already be at Sasuke's place before it would completely break through. That would make it less embarrassing for him when mum dropped him off.

"Naruto, you finished? I've got your breakfast ready!" Mum called out from the bottom of the staircase.

"Yeah, I'll be down soon!" he yelled back, throwing a couple more pairs of underwear in his bag before he pulled at the zipper and fumbled with it until he closed the bag. He didn't really think he'd be wearing many clothes these upcoming three days, but just in case.

After a quick breakfast of which he could barely remember the taste, so distracted he'd become, he threw his bag onto the backseats in mum's car and fell down in the front seat. He was starting to feel rather flushed and that had nothing to do with the light warmth of the May sun slowly rising in the sky.

"You've got your suppressants with you?" Mum asked when she backed out of the driveway, briefly waving to dad who was standing in the doorway with a steaming mug of coffee.

"Of course; I'm not stupid," he said, rubbing his thighs anxiously. He watched the trees and the houses flash by as the car sped up, leaving their street behind.

"Just checking," she said soothingly, turning right.

Normally they would both fill the car with their chatter, but Naruto was feeling too jittery, too impatient for that now. All he wanted was to get to Sasuke's place as soon as possible, let himself be engulfed by the Alpha's presence. It felt like there was a hook tugging at his navel, the thread of it leading right to his boyfriend. If a car wasn't inherently faster, Naruto would probably step out and make his way there on foot.

As it was, he would definitely be quicker by car, so he stayed seated even if that was testing his restraint a lot at the moment. He started squirming in his seat, the warmth in his lower belly growing worse, as they got closer and closer to the Alpha waiting for him.

Mum didn't remark on the squirming, fortunately, just drove as fast as she was legally allowed. She probably knew how frustrating it was to have to wait until he could get his Alpha and yeah, no, that was a thought process he was not going to pursue any further.

He was ready to jump out of the car by the time mum came to a stop in front of Sasuke's house, but a hand on his shoulder held him back.

"What?" he asked, sounding sharper than he intended to. He couldn't really help it, though. He was so close to his mate, his Alpha was waiting right behind that door and _mum wouldn't let him get out of the car._

She held up her hands placatingly, but her eyes carried a solemn look. "I won't hold you back for much longer. I just want to ask whether you can give me a call as soon as your heat is over, so that I know you're fine."

"Of course I'll be fine, I'm with Sasuke," Naruto sighed impatiently, wrestling with his seatbelt before he got it loose.

"Yeah, I know, but still, give me a call, okay?" she said sternly, throwing him a warning look.

He groaned and threw his hands up in defeat. "Yes, fine, I'll call once it's over. Can I please go now?" Any other moment and he'd feel embarrassed for sounding so whiney but he really needed to get the hell out of this car now and find Sasuke. He could feel his underwear becoming damper and he wanted to be inside the house before it grew even worse.

She shook her head with a smile and waved him off. "Yeah, yeah, go have fun with your boyfriend."

"Ma!" he groaned in protest, but flung open the door and stumbled onto the footway. He barely remembered to snatch his bag from the backseat before he slammed that door shut too and after a quick wave he turned around and hurried to the front door.

The door opened right when he set foot on the porch and Sasuke appeared in the doorway. For a moment they eyed each other up, both tense; their gazes roaming across the other one's body.

Then dark eyes flashed, a pale hand reached out to drag the Omega inside and the door was shut and locked. For the next three days it would remain that way.

* * *

He collapsed on top of Sasuke, all the strength having left his arms abruptly. He was panting, his lungs felt like they were on fire, and he was sticky, but so damn satisfied at the same time.

Slender fingers carded through his sweaty hair and Naruto sighed, closing his eyes. He couldn't remember much after he'd stepped into the house. When he tried to recall, his mind provided snatches of clothes being ripped off and them stumbling towards the living room because that room had been the closest and they couldn't wait any longer to actually get upstairs.

He'd remained in a daze mostly during the first time. His body had been thrumming with heat, desperate to feel the Alpha inside him, and he thought he might have started begging even before escalating to threats when he'd thought Sasuke had taken too long to fuck him.

Once Sasuke had slipped inside, though … Fuck, he hadn't realised just how much he'd been missing out on when he'd spent his heats alone. The inferno that had been raging inside of him had been quelled almost instantly, Sasuke's presence acting like water to soothe it. Their hands had scrabbled all over each other, eager to touch and squeeze, caress and stroke while their mouths had met over and over again, moans and groans swallowed up by lips and tongues.

They had passed out on the couch when they were done.

After waking up they had relocated to Sasuke's bedroom, where several bottles of water were kept cool in a cooling box together with several snacks. A part of Naruto wanted to feel guilty about having had sex on the couch – where everyone sat down, oh god – but it was hard to feel guilty when all he could think of was having Sasuke inside of him.

"You feeling okay?" Sasuke mumbled, one of his hands trailing lazily up and down across Naruto's back.

"Fine," Naruto slurred, still delirious with pleasure. His heat was currently simmering lowly, soothed for the moment, giving them a while to calm down and rest.

Sasuke shifted a bit and the blond groaned when that had his cock pressing against a sensitive spot inside of him. "God, don't move now," he moaned weakly, slapping Sasuke's chest.

The dark haired boy snorted. "You were the one who practically jumped me just now," he pointed out incredulously.

"Like you were complaining about it," Naruto retorted and forced himself to roll off Sasuke, grimacing at how sweaty and tacky they both were. He was starting to feel a bit sore and hoped he'd have a few hours to catch some sleep before another wave would have him jumping the Alpha all over again.

"No cramps?" Sasuke inquired and leant over the bed to grab a bottle of water which he handed over to the exhausted Omega.

Naruto smiled in thanks and opened the bottle. "No, the cramps stopped when I got here," he admitted, his cheeks heating up when Sasuke smirked. He kicked his leg. "Shut up, you smug bastard."

"I didn't say anything," Sasuke insisted, opening his own bottle to drink. After putting both bottles on his nightstand, he motioned for Naruto to lie down again. "Come on, let's catch some sleep. We can take a shower after waking up."

"Sounds like a plan," Naruto yawned and plopped down. He was already out before he could feel Sasuke slinging an arm around his hips.

* * *

He woke up, feeling flushed as if he had caught a fever, and he whimpered before he could stop himself. He squirmed, clenching his teeth when slick started dripping down his thighs and for the first time he wondered just how much slick his body could produce. He and Sasuke had already done it three times today alone and yet his body was again producing slick like they were just about to start.

"Hm, I've got you." The low voice had him shivering and he turned towards it, whining when he felt two fingers sliding inside his entrance smoothly. "Fuck, I love how wet you are," Sasuke growled, crooking his fingers.

"Please," Naruto whimpered, grabbing Sasuke's shoulders and dragging him down on top of him.

"What do you need, hm? Tell me, Naruto. Tell me what you need," Sasuke demanded, his eyes glowing as he rolled on top of the panting Omega, spreading his legs roughly.

"I – I need you," Naruto groaned, shivering when fingers tweaked his right nipple. "Please, Sasuke, I need you."

"Where?" Fingers stilled inside of him and Naruto hissed, canting his hips up.

"I need you in me now!" he snapped, opening his eyes. His vision was a bit blurry, but he had no problem focusing on the Alpha on top of him, on black eyes glittering feverishly, a flush colouring pale cheekbones. "Please, Alpha, I want to - "

He screamed when Sasuke threw his legs over his shoulders and pushed inside, burying himself within the welcoming wet heat in one thrust. Without giving the blond the chance to adjust, he started a rough, fast paced rhythm immediately, drawing back and slamming inside before the Omega could even register being empty. His eyes were wild, his thrusts rougher than usual, and Naruto realised smugly that he had done this, he had caused Sasuke to lose control completely, had managed to break through his calm exterior – and all that because he'd called him _Alpha_.

Sasuke liked being called Alpha, who knew? Well, never let it be said that Naruto couldn't be quite accommodating.

"Please, Alpha, faster," he groaned in Sasuke's ear and bright lights flashed across his eyes and he had to bite down on Sasuke's shoulder to muffle his shout when Sasuke growled, his next thrust harsh enough to shove Naruto upwards a couple of inches.

All Naruto could do was cling to Sasuke as pleasure pooled into the pit of his stomach, as the heat inside of him was quenched with each thrust, with each harsh kiss, with each stroke of Sasuke's hand.

He slammed his head back into the mattress and yelled out Sasuke's name when the pleasure exploded in him; his body shaking and trembling like it was experiencing its own mini earthquake, exacerbated by Sasuke mercilessly moving inside him, not slowing down in the slightest. His aim was flawless, the tip of his cock striking Naruto's sweet spot dead on, prolonging his climax, and by the time he came too Naruto was crying, his entire body oversensitive, feeling like he would combust any second now.

He was still shivering by the time Sasuke slipped out of him, cum dripping out of his hole, and soft kisses were peppered across his cheeks, on his lips, his nose, his chin, as hands soothingly caressed his arm and back, sweeping down his hip and leg before going back up again.

Naruto fell asleep, listening to Sasuke's steady heartbeat.

* * *

His heat petered out by the third day. There was nothing left of the frenzy way they had clutched onto each other as they made love slowly, their kisses sweet and languid as their fingers mapped out familiar paths on each other's body.

They cuddled afterwards, Naruto tracing circles around Sasuke's navel, feeling sleepy but content.

"No regrets?" Sasuke murmured, his eyes half lidded when Naruto looked up.

Smiling, Naruto shook his head and kissed him. "Best time ever," he whispered. He would call his mum soon, let her know everything had gone well, but for now he was happy to just lay there in bed, sharing kisses with Sasuke and holding him.

* * *

The next couple of weeks passed by swiftly. It was getting warmer with each day that went by, the sun preparing itself for the upcoming summer which promised to be as hot and stifling as last year, but that notion clearly escaped their teachers as they kept piling up homework, stating it would prepare them for their future studies.

It might prepare them, yeah, but that didn't mean anyone was happy with the increased amount.

Haruno still hadn't returned to school and the chance of her actually coming back seemed to grow smaller each day. Not that Naruto complained about that; he couldn't say he missed hearing her snide remarks. Yamanaka stayed clear from him, going as far as not even looking at him even if he was nearby. Not exactly something he was mourning about either.

After her public declaration, the rest of the girls had backed down as well, with some of them having gathered enough nerves to apologise to him directly. The others appeared too ashamed after having dragged his name through the mud and seemed content to just ignore him now. It wasn't like he'd known any of them before all that shit had gone down, so he wasn't bothered by them either. He was already happy that he no longer was the topic of nasty rumours, that he wasn't subjected anymore to poisonous whispers and vicious sneers.

Life went on like usual: attending classes, chatting with his friends, moaning about the amount of homework that was threatening to drown him, and spending time with Sasuke. After Naruto's stay at Sasuke's place during his heat, they switched between the two homes more often, although Sasuke still seemed to favour Naruto's home. Probably because there he wasn't subjected to any teasing like he had to endure from Kakashi every time Naruto came over.

* * *

A soft sigh escaped him when the cold water rushed over his wrists. They were definitely inching into the summer now, the temperature high enough outside for the sunrays to sting skin. Rotating his wrists back and forth a couple of times, he watched the water stream down, providing welcome coolness before he turned off the tap and shook out his hands above the sink. He dried his hands quickly with the towel hanging on his left before slipping out of the bathroom, leaving the door ajar.

They had gone straight to Sasuke's house after school; Naruto's parents would be home quite late and they had a problem with the air conditioning, so the boys would spend the rest of the afternoon and the evening at Sasuke's place before relocating to Naruto's home.

He walked through the narrow hallway, going back to Sasuke's bedroom to finish his essay, when voices drifting up from the foot of the staircase made him halt. The top of the staircase was right across from Sasuke's room and he hovered next to it, curiosity piqued by the anger he could clearly hear in Sasuke's voice.

"Will you shut up about it?" Sasuke was demanding, cold anger simmering in his voice.

"It's been almost six years," Kakashi sighed. "Don't you think it's time to go back?"

"What part about mind your damn business do you not understand?" Sasuke snapped and Naruto's eyebrows rose up.

What could they possibly be fighting about? Sure, Kakashi had mastered the art of annoying Sasuke to a tee, but he'd never heard the young Alpha react so angrily.

"Look, just think about it, okay? You've still got a week to decide," Kakashi said and footsteps echoed through the hallway before the kitchen door swung open. It was silent downstairs for a bit longer before the stairs creaked and soon Sasuke's dark hair came into view.

He was still looking pissed off when he stepped onto the landing, but when he looked up and saw Naruto standing there, his face smoothed over and became blank.

"You almost ready with your essay?" he asked.

"Almost yeah," Naruto said and cocked his head to the right. "You okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Sasuke questioned flatly, walking to his room.

"I don't know; you sounded a bit angry just now," Naruto said, not seeing any reason why he should pretend he hadn't heard the argument.

The dark haired boy shrugged. "Kakashi's just being annoying as usual."

"That didn't sound as just being annoyed by him," Naruto commented carefully, following him to his bedroom. When he looked at him, Sasuke pressed his lips together in a tight line.

"Just, nothing," he said tersely, sitting back down at his desk.

"Okay," Naruto said, eyeing him warily, and crawled back onto the bed where his essay was waiting for him. He decided to let the subject drop for now; as tetchy as Sasuke was now he would only clamp up even more if Naruto kept pushing him. Sasuke would talk about it when he was ready, he figured, and picked up his pen again, rereading the last paragraph to refresh his memory.

They worked in silence on their essays, the only sounds the scratching of their pens on the paper and outside some children squealing mixed with the noise of water splashing around. Kakashi was puttering around somewhere downstairs, doing whatever he did during late afternoons.

"My mother's birthday's on the first of June," Sasuke said suddenly and the blond started.

"What?" He stared at the back of the Alpha's head, thrown off guard by the unexpected comment.

"My mother's birthday. It's on the first of June," Sasuke repeated but didn't turn around. He kept writing, but his shoulders were visibly tensed up.

"Oh." Naruto licked his lips and ran his hands through his hair, wondering what he could say in response to that. After Sasuke had told him what had happened to his family, he hadn't mentioned anything else about them again and Naruto hadn't wanted to push him, deciding it wasn't any of his business if Sasuke wanted to remain quiet about his family.

"Kakashi wants me to go visit the graves," Sasuke went on and this time he stopped writing. "I haven't been back there since we moved here."

"Do you want to go visit them?" Naruto inquired cautiously, fiddling with the cap of his pen.

"I haven't visited them since the funerals ended," Sasuke muttered. "I don't understand why he keeps nagging me about them. It's not like me visiting them is going to bring them back." Bitterness coloured his voice heavily, so thick Naruto could taste it on his own tongue.

Naruto remained quiet for a while, contemplating what he could say. He could somewhat understand why Sasuke was refusing to go back, given how traumatic it had been, but maybe he needed this kind of closure? Perhaps Kakashi thought the same thing and that was why he apparently kept nagging about it every year.

"If you'd like, I could go with you," he offered hesitatingly. "Then you wouldn't be alone."

For a moment Sasuke looked ready to lash out; his entire posture tensing up and anger practically sparking around him. Then he suddenly deflated and inclined his head. "I'll think about it."

"Sure," Naruto said and deciding a change of subject was in order - before Sasuke would end up too winded up for the rest of the evening – he suggested lightly, "Hey, you want to read through my essay and check it?"

"You mean you want me to find out just how badly you screwed up the dates now?" Sasuke snorted and turned around; one of his eyebrows lifted up.

"Hey, that was one time!"

"You literally had your textbook in front of you to check the dates; _you've got no excuse_."

"Just shut up and help me, all right?"

* * *

"My sister said you're welcome to help us out any time you want," Kiba grinned, smacking his back.

Naruto rolled his eyes, throwing his bag over his shoulder. "She only said that because she didn't have to deal with the dogs then."

"Please, you had fun feeding them," Kiba scoffed, pushing open the door. Outside in the hallway, students were pouring out of the other classrooms, all elated and eager to leave now that the school week was over again, ready to start the weekend.

"Be careful, Naruto," Shikamaru said, following after them. "They're just looking for someone to dump all the puppies on."

"Everyone loves working with dogs!" Kiba said affronted, punching Shikamaru's arm.

The Beta raised an eyebrow. "Is that why you're always trying to weasel out of your chores?"

As the two started bickering, Naruto watched on amused as they wrestled their way through the crowded hallways. The sun nearly blinded him when he stepped outside and he squinted, black dots floating in front of his eyes for a moment.

"You've got anything planned with your parents tomorrow?" Sasuke murmured, touching his wrist.

He glanced at him, taking the last steps down. "No, I haven't. They're going to the stores before starting their shifts and that's it. Why?"

"I'll see you on Monday!" Kiba told him, breaking away from the argument long enough to say goodbye. Shikamaru nodded and they turned to the left to make their way to the bus stop.

Sasuke had driven them both to school this morning – as he usually did – so Naruto followed the Alpha to the parking lot where the shiny car was waiting for them.

When they were both seated, Sasuke spoke again, keeping his eyes fixated on the road ahead, "You're feeling up to making a three hour drive to visit a graveyard?"

A shock went through him and he blurted out, "We're going to visit your family?"

Dark eyes glanced at him before they focused back on the traffic ahead as they eased out of the parking lot and into the street. "Yeah, if you want to at least."

"Of course I want to! Just tell me when you're going to pick me up and I'll wait outside!" Naruto agreed hastily, realising all too well how hugely important this question was for the Alpha.

He hadn't gone back there in six years; Naruto didn't know what had caused the sudden change in mind, but if Sasuke wanted him to be there, he would go with him, no questions asked.

* * *

Mum kissed his cheek, told him to text when they were on their way back and stepped into the car so she and dad could go grocery shopping.

After retrieving his sunglasses and patting his pockets to make sure he had his wallet, phone and house key in them, he closed the front door and leant against it, waiting for his ride to arrive.

It was still fairly early in the morning, only a quarter past eight, and normally he would still be asleep in his bed with Sasuke curled around him. Sasuke had spent the previous night at his own place, though, for reasons he didn't want to say, and as the trip to his old home town would take up three hours, they needed to leave early if they wanted to get back home at a reasonable hour.

Naruto loathed early mornings, especially during the weekend, but he would suck it up for his mate, knowing how difficult this trip was going to be for him.

Barely a minute after his parents had left, a familiar black car stopped in front of the house and he hurried towards it, falling into the seat and turning around to catch Sasuke's lips in a greeting after closing the door.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Naruto asked concerned, putting his seatbelt on.

Sasuke already had a pale complexion to start with, but now he looked almost as pale as a ghost and Naruto started wondering whether this was a good idea after all.

"Like shit," Sasuke answered honestly and blue eyes stared at him. His hands tightened around the steering wheel. "But I need to do this so let's go. We've got a three hour drive ahead of us."

"You know the directions?" Naruto adjusted the air conditioning so that the cold air would be more aimed at his face.

"Yeah, I put it in the GPS," Sasuke muttered and started driving, switching gears once they had turned around the corner. "You're going to be fine?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" the Omega questioned curiously. They weren't about to visit his dead relatives after years of not having lived in the town after all.

"Isn't your heat about to start soon?" Sasuke's forehead creased into a frown.

"Tomorrow probably," Naruto replied, scratching his arm absentmindedly. "Or Monday, depends. I'm not having it today, though, don't worry."

"That's at least one good thing," Sasuke muttered, slowing down when they neared an orange stoplight.

Naruto hummed in agreement. It would be pretty awkward if his heat kicked in when they were standing in front of three graves. He knew he still had at least one more day to go, though, so he would be fine.

"Kakashi not going to visit?" he inquired after they'd driven through a couple of streets.

"Not today," Sasuke replied. "He usually visits them in September."

"Does he know you're going to visit them today?"

"I told him, yeah," Sasuke said before switching subjects and asking whether the blond had any plans with his family for the summer.

It was a very obvious subject change, but Naruto let it go and started talking about his parents debating whether they would make a trip to the beach or not.

They stopped for a quick toilet break and to buy some snacks as they still had an hour and a half to go, but then they were on the road again. The radio was playing songs in the background, interrupted whenever the woman's voice of the GPS informed them coolly which exit to take, but Naruto was mostly filling the silence between them, chattering about anything that popped up in his head. Sasuke was more quiet than usual and the blond hoped that his babbling would distract the Alpha from the upcoming visit.

Naruto knew the moment they were getting close to Sasuke's old home town, because Sasuke grew visibly tenser, his mouth flattening into a thin line, and his hands wrapped around the steering wheel like claws.

Looking out of the window, he spotted the immaculate kept gardens while they drove through the quiet streets. There were people mingling on the footway, ones washing their cars or working in their gardens. Some of them looked up curiously when they drove by before going back to whatever they were doing.

The centre of the town was quite busy, people bustling around, doing their shopping, going to the bank or the townhouse. There was a fountain in the shape of a woman cradling a jar from which the water poured down and people were seated around it, a toddler splashing around in the basin. Traffic was slower here with people crossing the streets and trucks delivering their goods to the stores and it was nearing half past eleven by the time they left the town centre behind, driving into another neighbourhood.

Sasuke's gaze remained on the road and Naruto kept quiet; the tension palpable in the air the further they got into the town. It was a bit odd to think that this place was the one where Sasuke had grown up in, where he had stayed until he'd been twelve years old before criminals had ripped his family away. Naruto wondered whether they had passed through the street where Sasuke had lived in. If they had, the Alpha hadn't shown any sign of recognition.

Then again, he seemed to be impersonating a statue at the moment so even if they passed the house where he'd grown up, Naruto doubted he would see even a twitch.

Beautiful houses soon made way for a long stretch of road with nothing but grass and trees on each side. There was a field on their left, cows grazing leisurely on it with a farm behind it. The GPS announced their destination was only a mere five hundred metres away and Naruto's heart skipped a beat. Leaning forwards he watched how the grass gave way to gravel and a tall, iron wrought gate came into view.

There were a couple of parking spots lined up against the brick wall surrounding the graveyard and Sasuke parked next to a dark green Toyota. They were one of the three cars parked here; one part of the gate had been opened, allowing access to the visitors.

After killing the engine, Sasuke leant back in his chair and rubbed his hands over his face. Now that they were actually here, he looked unwilling to get out of the car and Naruto wondered whether they would end up leaving without having visited the graves.

"You don't have to go if you don't want to," he said softly. A pigeon landed on the wall in front of them briefly, pecked a bit at the stone before flying away.

"No, let's go. I should do this," Sasuke said brusquely and stepped out of the car before the blond could open his mouth.

Worrying his lip between his teeth, Naruto quickly left the car as well and after Sasuke had locked it, they made their way to the entrance. Rows of grey stone monuments were lined up neatly, gleaming faintly in the sunlight. Flowers covered the monuments and a few rows down an elderly couple was paying their respects to a grave. Some names on the graves had been inked a deep red, signifying that the spouse of the deceased was still alive.

Naruto wasn't certain whether Sasuke would still remember where his family had been buried after cremation, but the Alpha's stride was purposeful as he made his way between the rows and the blond followed him; blue eyes shooting back and forth, catching sight of the various flowers, the business cards collected in boxes on some of the graves, incense burning on others. He had thought the graveyard would feel creepy a bit, given that they were surrounded by dead people – or the ashes of them anyway – but the place felt rather peaceful oddly.

He nearly walked straight into Sasuke's back when the other boy abruptly halted and he rocked back and forth on his heels to avoid falling flat on his arse. When he peeked over Sasuke's shoulder, he inhaled sharply.

The grave they were standing in front of was slightly taller than the ones on each side of it. There were flowers on the monument, though they had started to wilt. Engraved in the stone were the names _Uchiha Fugaku_ , _Uchiha Mikoto_ and _Uchiha Itachi_. Their names were again repeated on a sotoba; the wooden board resting on a stand behind the monument.

"I haven't been here since they put the ashes into the grave," Sasuke said blankly, breaking the loaded silence. His hands were clenched on each side; his gaze locked onto the names in the middle of the stone. He uttered a harsh sound, something between a chuckle and a sob in. "I don't even have flowers with me. The first time in six years and I don't even have anything with me!"

Resting a hand cautiously on Sasuke's shoulder, Naruto murmured, "I'm sure they don't mind. I think they're happy that you're here, flowers or no flowers."

Sasuke shook his head. "Mother would have thought it was impolite," he said and a faint sad smile painted his mouth. "She would have asked me where my manners were."

Blue eyes drifted towards the only female name on the stone. "I think she'll forgive you for this time," he said confidently.

"Father would have agreed with her, but Itachi wouldn't have cared," Sasuke exhaled slowly. "He'd never been one for the strict rules in our family."

"Sounds like the kind of guy I'd like," Naruto piped up and the other boy snorted.

"You two would probably have teamed up to screw me over," he retorted, but his tone was fond now and his eyes soft as they shifted to rest on his brother's name.

"You bet we would have," Naruto smiled and wrapped his arm around Sasuke's waist. "They would have been proud of you, you know? For making it this far on your own," he added quietly, resting his head on the Alpha's shoulder.

Sasuke was silent for a moment, his body still like a statue, before he slowly nodded and slung his arm around Naruto's shoulders. "Yeah, I think they would be," he agreed softly and turned his head to press a kiss on the Omega's forehead. "And I'm sure they would have loved you. I wish you could have met them."

"Me too," Naruto mumbled, staring at the grave. Anyone related to Sasuke would have been amazing, he was sure of that. Sasuke had to have got it from somewhere after all.

Then Sasuke took a shuddering breath, turned around and buried his face in Naruto's neck; his hands clutching the back of Naruto's shirt. Naruto didn't say anything when he felt warm tears slip down his neck, wetting his skin before they got soaked up by the collar of his shirt, and simply hugged Sasuke tightly.

Looking at the grave, he silently promised, _I'll take good care of him, I swear. Please look out for us both._

* * *

Sasuke didn't say much for the rest of the day. His hand remained clasped with Naruto's the whole drive back and if Naruto's parents noticed how Sasuke seemed to hover around their son more than usual, they didn't remark on it. Nor did they comment on the fact that Sasuke's eyes had been still rather red-rimmed when they'd arrived home.

Naruto felt bad that Sasuke had ended up crying, but he also believed the older boy had needed that release. For years he'd kept silent about his family, had refused to visit their graves. Today was the first time he'd faced their grave and Naruto was proud of him. He thought, hoped, that the visit would give Sasuke some peace as well and allow him to let go of the guilt he was still carrying around.

Later that evening when they went to bed, Sasuke drew him close, their legs tangled together and his arms resting around Naruto's waist, pulling him against his chest.

He burrowed his face in the Omega's neck. "Thank you for coming with me this morning," he said, voice muffled by warm skin.

Naruto smiled and squeezed his wrists gently. "I'm glad you wanted me to come with you."

"I love you." The words were whispered against his skin, breathed out gently and a hand came up to cover his heart over his shirt. His breath hitched.

Fingers spread out across his breastbone and the warm glow in his chest expanded, filling every available space in his body like it was liquid.

"I love you too," he whispered roughly and laced their fingers together.

That night he fell asleep with a smile lingering on his lips.

* * *

Something changed after their visit to the graveyard. Sasuke appeared lighter now, as if a huge weight had fallen off his shoulders and he was more relaxed, not as easy to rise to Kakashi's bait as he'd been before. Instead of annoyed, Kakashi actually seemed content with that particular development and told Naruto he was glad Sasuke had found him. Naruto didn't really understand what he had to do with Sasuke not being as easily aggravated by his guardian anymore, but whatever. Kakashi was a weird guy; that was just a fact.

He and Sasuke started talking about what they wanted to study when they would attend university next year and began looking for a place to share. After that one week in the middle of July which Naruto had spent at the beach with his parents, it had become abundantly clear that not sharing an apartment or a dorm room was out of the question. Sasuke had looked like an absolute wreck by the time Naruto had returned home and while the Alpha had blamed the hot weather for the lack of sleep he'd accumulated, Kakashi had quietly confided in him that the Uchiha heir had been having serious nightmares every night.

Sasuke didn't talk about the nightmares and Naruto didn't ask. After that week, however, Naruto made sure they spent every night together whenever possible. It wasn't exactly a hardship for him to fall asleep with his mate and it seemed to set the Alpha at ease, allowing him to sleep without any serious nightmares, so it was a win-win for them both, really.

Summer made way for autumn and their teachers started urging them to finish their university and college applications on time, warning them that slacking off would be an incredibly stupid thing to do as that would put their future in jeopardy. Test after test, assignment after assignment were thrown at them, and when those were done, there were always more applications to fill out. People started comparing their applications with each other, friends swearing that they would get into the same college or university; others bemoaning that there was no way they would ever get into the place of their first choice.

Naruto felt like he was drowning for months, reaching the point where he started to wonder what the fuck he was doing, and before he realised it, winter had left the country, paving the way for spring and with that, their graduation as well.

Sasuke had been asked to deliver the final speech as his marks had been the highest of their year – no surprise there – but he had refused, not interested in getting on a stage and talking to a gathered mass he had never given a shit about.

The honour went to Shikamaru then as the one with the second highest marks and while the Beta boy complained that it was too much effort and he wasn't one for talking in public, he did get up on the stage in the end, delivering a speech so powerful it left several people in tears.

As Naruto looked around, surrounded by a sea of fellow ex-students, he thought how strange it was to stand here, knowing that after today he would no longer attend this school. In a week he would be moving into another city, ready to start attending university. Most likely he wouldn't see the majority of these people ever again; all of them spreading out throughout the country, ready to start a new chapter in their lives.

He had attended this school for two years and he'd gained a couple of good friends and a boyfriend during that time – the latter being something he hadn't envisioned happening. Just two years ago he and his parents had moved into this town and he remembered all too clearly his first day at this school, how his eyes had locked onto black ones, the pale boy they belonged to eliciting an immediate sense of fascination within him.

In hindsight he had been a goner for Sasuke from the very moment he'd laid eyes upon him. It would forever be a mystery how it had taken him so long to realise his true feelings.

Now here they were: holding hands and graduating together. What a far cry from how they had been at the start: him nervous as hell yet intrigued, and Sasuke aloof and not at all interested in befriending the new guy.

Funny how things could change.

"Naruto? What are you thinking about?" Sasuke asked curiously. Around them people started to congratulate each other, hugging their friends and promising to keep in contact.

Naruto turned his head to look at him and smiled. "Nothing," he hummed and squeezed his hand. "Just glad we're finally done. We deserve a nice break after all these months of hard work."

"You always think you deserve a nice break," Sasuke teased them and they turned around, making their way through the crowd, aiming for Naruto's parents and Kakashi who were waiting for them with big smiles underneath the sakura tree.

"Hey, I worked hard, okay?!" Naruto squawked and they continued bickering all the way to Naruto's place where a feast was waiting for them as congratulations for graduating.

In just a week he and Sasuke would be sharing an apartment together. They would actually _live together_.

Naruto could hardly wait!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN2: Again, apologies if some scenes seemed off; I had a hard time getting my brain to cooperate for this chapter.
> 
> Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
> 
> I hope to see you all back in the next chapter "Expanding"!
> 
> Cuddles
> 
> Melissa


	11. Expanding Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: Sorry for the delay, guys, I ended up having to finish the chapter tonight because my time management has gone to shit lately.
> 
> Thank you all so much for your comments and kudos! Like, holy shit, guys, this story already passed a 1000 kudos!! I'm fucking blown away by that number! Thank you so much for your support!
> 
> Warnings: set around two years after their graduation; angst (it was inevitable, I'm sorry); mature content and something you've been waiting for for quite a while now
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
> 
> I hope you'll like it!

_11 Expanding Part 1_

Shutting the door with his foot, he checked his phone and saw that it would still be two hours before Sasuke's class would let out and he'd come home. He could search through the fridge and the pantry for something to make dinner with, but he was in the mood for ramen and he wondered how long – and what exactly – it would take for him to convince the Alpha that it was a good evening to eat ramen.

Well, it was always a good moment to eat ramen if you asked him, but he and Sasuke had compromised about the amount of ramen he could eat each week. Sasuke called it a compromise, but he was more inclined to call it a sacrifice – a big difference. The other man should be glad he loved him so much, because Naruto had never before sacrificed his ramen.

Walking into the living room, he dumped his bag next to the couch and flipped through the mail they'd received today. A couple of those were just some flyers; one announcing a neighbourhood party and the other one promoting a new store that would open soon. Two envelops were addressed to each of them and he smirked when he encountered the one addressed to him.

_Uchiha Naruto._

They were both attending their second year at university, but he was still very amused every time a letter addressed to him arrived. He'd let Sasuke handle some of the paperwork before they'd moved into this flat and had only discovered Sasuke's mistake when the first letter had arrived for him. In a bout of absentmindedness Sasuke had written down his last name instead of _Uzumaki_ on the paperwork; he'd only realised what he had done when Naruto had pointed it out to him.

The blond had never seen him grow so red before and he'd actually started stammering a bit, explaining that he hadn't meant to write it like that and that he didn't know what he'd been thinking. He'd fix the mistake, he assured the Omega, though his eyes had remained glued on the name of the paper. There had been something in those black eyes, something akin to longing, that had made Naruto say he didn't have to worry about it and that he was okay with the way his information had been recorded.

"After all," he'd smirked, "I'm going to take on your last name in the future when we get married, so we can consider this as practice."

Sasuke had rolled his eyes and scoffed, slapping Naruto's head and calling him an idiot, but his eyes had been soft and his kiss had been grateful.

Despite their steady relationship they hadn't discussed a potential marriage yet or whether they would change their last names or keep them, but Naruto thought he wouldn't mind changing his last name to Uchiha. It seemed to make the Alpha happy every time he saw ' _Uchiha Naruto_ ' printed on paper, even though he tried to hide it, and Naruto wasn't that attached to his last name that he would refuse taking up Sasuke's.

Not that they needed a wedding to show their love for each other. His fingers touched a particular spot right where his neck met his shoulder and he smiled. He didn't need a mirror to know there was a silvery small scar like mark hidden half underneath the collar of his shirt. A mark which had been adorning his neck for two months now.

_He knew something was different. Since the moment Sasuke had set foot inside their flat, there had been a subtle tension in the air. Not the bad kind, heralding an upcoming fight, fortunately, but it was there nonetheless and it made Naruto quite puzzled._

_He could feel it humming between them when Sasuke pulled him closer, hands clutching at his hips and helping him move up and down on his cock; the tip of it brushing teasingly against his sweet spot every time he sank down again. His own hands gripped the Alpha's shoulders tightly, using them to brace himself against whenever he lifted himself up._

_The fire in the pit of his belly was steadily growing, spreading out to his limbs, setting his veins on fire and making his fingertips tingle. He started moving quicker, chasing after his climax, the pleasure rising, bringing him tantalizingly close every time he pushed himself down, and he couldn't hold back the litany of curses and moans that escaped him when Sasuke started jerking him off, sucking a bruise in his neck._

_He didn't quite catch it at first, too lost in a haze of mind numbing pleasure. Only when dark eyes flicked up at him expectantly did he realise that he'd been asked something._

" _Wh-what?" he asked breathlessly, his cheeks flushing even harder when Sasuke smirked, clearly knowing why the blond hadn't heard him the first time. God, he could be such a smug bastard at times._

_A smug bastard who was way too good at taking him apart, not that he would ever admit that aloud._

" _I want to Mark you," Sasuke repeated, voice barely louder than a murmur, but his eyes were intense and solemn and the grip on Naruto's hips had become halting, keeping him seated instead of helping him move._

_Naruto's heart skipped a beat and his breathing hitched. Blue eyes wide, he asked shocked, "You're serious?"_

" _I wouldn't joke about this," Sasuke said; one of his hands shifting to come up and cradle the Omega's neck. "Do you want me to Mark you?"_

_Naruto breathed out slowly, though his heart was still hammering in his chest so loudly it wouldn't surprise him if the dark haired man could hear it too. "We'd be bound for life," he remarked quietly, even as his fingers curled into strong shoulders and his hips started rocking back and forth gently._

_Dark eyes became half lidded, but the intensity in them never wavered. "You say that like I would mind that," he retorted and cocked his head to the right. "I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you. I love you, Naruto, and there's never going to be anyone else for me but you. Do you want to carry my Mark?"_

" _God," Naruto groaned and kissed him so fiercely his own lips stung when he pulled back again. "Of course I want your Mark! You didn't even need to ask!"_

" _That's usually the polite thing to do when you're about to bind someone to you for life," Sasuke replied dryly, but his hands were shaking when he cupped Naruto's cheeks and the kiss he delivered upon swollen, red lips was soft and so full of love it made tears prick behind blue eyes._

" _Hey bastard, I told you before: you're not going to get rid of me that easily," Naruto said roughly, blinking away some stray tears._

_Sasuke huffed out a soft laugh. "I'm glad," he said before capturing the blond's mouth in a heated kiss and they started moving again, more frantic now, spurred on by their need for each other._

_This time when white flashed across his eyes, pleasure skyrocketing and exploding, he felt rather than heard Sasuke snarl and he screamed when teeth closed down in his neck, the combination of_ **pain pleasure pain ecstasy** _making him dizzy and leaving him gasping for air, shuddering through the waves of pleasure._

_His teeth ached and when Sasuke started coming inside him, his own mouth snapped close onto Sasuke's left side of his neck, piercing through skin. A coppery taste dusted his lips and a different sort of warmth, one unfamiliar until this moment, settled in his chest, glowing gently within._

" _You're stuck with me for life," Naruto slurred afterwards, blinking dazedly up at the ceiling as the sweat on his body cooled down and his breathing started to settle._

_Sasuke smirked and drew him against his side, sweaty stickiness be damned. "I think I can live with that."_

The moment they had set foot inside the house, mum had immediately noticed the new additions in their necks. To be honest, Naruto had been a tad worried that his parents would think him still too young to be Marked, but all they had done was congratulate them both before dragging them into the kitchen to celebrate their first year at university being over and done with.

Dad ended up telling them he'd been surprised they took so long to Mark each other, which given how chill the both of them had been about their son's relationship with Sasuke, was a comment Naruto really should have expected.

Kakashi had just smirked, telling Sasuke his mate was a good catch and that he'd been wise not to let him go. Unsurprisingly that comment had raised the Alpha's proverbial hackles and he'd growled at the older man, ordering him to shut his mouth.

Naruto and Sasuke might be living in their own flat for most of the year now – rented with some of the money of Sasuke's inheritance; the Alpha completely refusing any monetary aid from the Uzumaki family – but clearly absence did not make the heart grow fonder in Sasuke's case regarding Kakashi.

Their visible Marks had also the pleasant side-effect of finally convincing those pesky people that Sasuke was really off the market and they didn't stand a chance with him at all. Just like in secondary school, people flocked towards Sasuke, drawn to him because of his looks and while he'd been clear on more than one occasion that he was already in a relationship, several people still had kept trying to convince him to date them.

One girl even had had the nerve to ask Sasuke whether he'd been free that particular Friday after she'd witnessed Naruto greeting him with a full kiss on the lips. The Omega was usually not that bothered by the attention his mate received from others, but at that moment he had had to restrain himself from cheerfully slapping some sense in her.

After they had Marked each other, though, the propositions had faded out, replaced by jealous scowls. At least the students here were smart enough to back off and as far as Naruto was aware, there were no nasty rumours being spread around about him like during his last year at school.

He put the letters back on the table, deciding to deal with them later, and made his way to the kitchen to grab some soda. Their grocery list on the counter caught his attention and he tapped a finger on it thoughtfully, eyes gliding down the couple of items scrawled on it. They were going grocery shopping tomorrow, so he really should finish their list before they would end up forgetting several things again like they had when they'd first started living here.

Oh, he should probably check his suppressants as well; he was pretty sure he needed to pick up a new order and it would be stupid to wait until the very last second. The new academic year had only just begun one and a half month ago, but already his professors were piling on the work. He'd rather pick up his new prescription tomorrow with the groceries than risk running out and not being able to get them on time because he was swamped with university work.

Clutching the soda can in one hand, he made his way to their bedroom where he kept his pills in the top drawer of his nightstand. It was easier to take one when he woke up; that way he wouldn't forget about it.

Placing the can on the nightstand, he opened the top drawer and plucked the small box out of it, opening it to check the contents. Yeah, like he suspected: he was down to one strip and –

Wait.

Furrowing his eyebrows, he studied the strip carefully and checked the calendar on the wall. They were two weeks into May and …

_He'd missed his heat._

Heart skipping a beat, he stared at the calendar; ringing filling his ears as he tried to recall when his last heat had been. April? Wait, no, that wasn't right either. He should have got his heat during Golden Week, but … He and Sasuke had spent a lot of time with Naruto's parents and their friends, but he hadn't had to sequester himself away for his heat.

 _Shit, had his last heat been in March?_ No, that couldn't be possible, right? He'd never missed a heat before! He was always right on time, especially with his pills! There was no way he'd missed his heat twice in a row!

But he had. He should have got it two weeks ago and he didn't. He should have had it during Golden Week, but he hadn't.

_**He'd missed his heat two months in a row.** _

His heartbeat was loud in his ear, thudding away in his chest, and he lowered himself down on the bed on weak legs; the strip with his suppressants clenched in his fist. There had to be an explanation for that, surely? Maybe his body had just had enough of heats and had decided to skip them a couple of times, maybe the suppressants were rewiring his system.

However … His eyes were drawn back to the strip. He wasn't as far into the strip as he should have been by now either. He'd taken his suppressants every day, though! There was no way he had accidentally forgotten to …

He felt uncomfortably warm when he realised his mistake. A couple of months ago he'd got seriously ill and he'd ended up throwing up everything he'd drunk or eaten during that time, even when it was something as simple as water. He'd thrown up his suppressants twice in a row and had then decided not to take him until he was feeling better again, remembering thinking it was useless to take them when he would just end up throwing them up again.

A couple of days after he'd started feeling better again, he'd had his heat and …

_Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck!_

"Shit," he whispered and panic started creeping up, slowly restricting around his chest. "Shit, fuck!"

No wait, he couldn't start panicking now. He just had to calm down and think carefully. So he had missed his heat twice in a row – that didn't necessarily have to mean anything. The first time could have been the stress of his exams and this month – maybe he was just late? That happened, didn't it? That a heat would take a while longer to set in. Plenty of people had that happening, hadn't they? He'd also started taking his suppressants as soon as he'd stopped throwing up and that had been at least a couple of days before his heat had hit.

Yeah, this didn't have to necessarily mean anything bad; he was just late. That was all. He was getting worked up about nothing. He'd get his heat soon and he would feel stupid for worrying so much.

He was panicking about nothing. Nodding reassuringly to himself, he shoved the strip back into the box and dumped it into his drawer, determined not to think about it anymore. Everything would be fine, he was sure of it. There was no need to panic; he'd get his heat soon, he was sure of it.

He should just go back to the kitchen and finish their grocery list. Yeah, that was what he was going to do now.

* * *

He'd just finished taking a shower and stood only clad in a towel in their bedroom when the door opened and Sasuke stepped inside, having arrived home just now after a full day of classes.

Naruto didn't even get the chance to turn around and greet him when arms slipped around him from behind and Sasuke pressed his forehead against his still damp shoulder with a groan of irritation.

"Long day?" Naruto inquired sympathetically, stroking the linked hands across his stomach gently.

"You have no idea," Sasuke muttered; his voice muffled against tanned skin. "I swear I'm this close to throwing that idiot out of the fucking window if he disrupts class one more time."

Naruto wrinkled his nose. That 'idiot' referred to one Hozuki Suigetsu; a classmate of Sasuke's in one of his law classes who'd been annoying the Alpha since the very moment they first met. Naruto didn't really understand what the deal was between the two of them; all he knew was that Sasuke had more than once bemoaned the fact that he couldn't simply get rid of Suigetsu.

"Well, the weekend's starting now," he spoke soothingly, "so you won't have to deal with him for at least two days."

"Two days are not enough," Sasuke groaned before he nuzzled the back of the Omega's neck and his embrace tightened. "You smell good."

The way the timbre of his voice changed, growing lower, more intimate, had Naruto perking up. "I did just take a shower; it'd be weird if I didn't smell good," he joked and his breathing hitched when Sasuke's hands dipped lower, fingers deftly undoing the knot in the towel. He let it carelessly drop onto the floor and then Naruto stood there completely naked, goose bumps rippling across his skin when Sasuke pressed closer, still completely clothed.

"No, it's more than that," Sasuke muttered, but before Naruto could ask for clarification he was turned around and his mouth was captured in a fierce kiss, stealing his breath and his ability to think almost immediately.

Hands landed on his arse and squeezed, making him jolt with a surprised moan. His own hands wandered downwards to tug at Sasuke's shirt, pulling it up, but his wrists were grabbed, halting him. He uttered an inquiring noise and opened his eyes, wondering what the hold-up was.

Glittering black eyes stared right back and a shiver ran down his spine; that look in those smouldering dark eyes promising him an earth shattering orgasm.

"Sasuke?" he questioned, a bit breathless.

Sasuke smirked, flicking his nipples quickly, making him hiss with pleasure at the slight sting. "Get on the bed with your arse up," he growled and Naruto was positive his slick was dripping down the inside of his thighs now; the Alpha's growl doing things to him.

On quaking legs he crawled onto the bed, his breath speeding up when he heard Sasuke's clothes rustle behind him, signifying him getting rid of them. Bracing his arms against the bed, he lifted his butt up in the air, just as he'd been told; the blanket bunched up around his knees.

The bed creaked a bit when Sasuke joined him and Naruto squeezed his eyes shut when hands cupped his arse cheeks firmly before they spread them, baring him to the Alpha's hungry eyes. He felt both embarrassed and excited at being presented like that to his mate and that combination did funny things in his lower stomach. His cock had already started dripping a bit and he just knew that the sheets would be a big mess after they were finished.

He couldn't bring himself to care about that.

Not when Sasuke shuffled closer, one finger dipping slightly into him, gathering his slick and swirling it around his rim as if he wasn't wet enough already.

Not when Sasuke leant over him and whispered into his ear, "I really want to taste you right now."

Definitely not when Sasuke retreated and his brain was still trying to compute what he'd just been told when he shouted and jerked in the Alpha's grip, feeling his tongue in a place he'd never expected it to be. Sasuke's tongue traced a circle around his entrance and he whimpered, confused at the strange mixture of sensations the Alpha was eliciting out of him. He clenched his hands into fists and moaned brokenly when that devious tongue wiggled inside, pushing past his rim.

From that moment on everything became a blur. His brain short-circuited at the intense pleasure Sasuke's tongue pulled out of him and he was reduced to nothing but a whimpering and moaning mess, begging Sasuke for _more, more, please, please, I'm almost there, don't stop, don't stop!_

Then Sasuke added a finger, touched a spot hidden deep within him, and Naruto came undone. White sparks flashed across his eyes and he screamed his voice hoarse as Sasuke kept prodding that spot, kept sucking at his rim, kept building the pleasure up and up to the point where a small part of Naruto was worried he would never feel normal again.

It was a small price to pay for the intense pleasure coursing through his veins, which seemed never ending, like it would go on and on, even as his body quaked and shook and the only reason why he hadn't fallen down yet was because of the firm grip around his hips, holding him up.

Tears were dribbling down his cheeks by the time Sasuke pulled away and Naruto kept shivering violently as if he'd been dumped into an ice cold bath. But he wasn't cold, though; the opposite even and rather delirious to boot too.

Sasuke guided him down on his back and when Naruto looked up at him, his eyes widened when he saw the Alpha licking his lips; the fire in those dark eyes still burning brightly. "You taste really good," he said in a rough voice and Naruto clasped his hands over his face, mortified.

"God, how do you keep saying those embarrassing things with such a straight face?" he groaned and stilled when hands started caressing his thighs before Sasuke coaxed his legs open entirely and settled between them.

"It's the truth. You looked like you were enjoying yourself," Sasuke smirked and bent down to capture Naruto's mouth in a deep, filthy kiss. "Think I can make you come again?" he asked lowly, eyes half lidded.

Naruto gulped, but excitement stirred up again as if he hadn't come his brains out just a minute ago. "Why don't you try?" he said challengingly and the way Sasuke's smirk grew and his eyes gleamed told him he was in for the ride of his life.

Good thing it was weekend tomorrow – something told him he would need the time off to recover after Sasuke was finished with him.

Like hell was he going to complain, though.

* * *

He couldn't keep ignoring it. The weekend had passed, they were back into the swing of classes, and he still hadn't got his heat. He tried to convince himself that it could still be just a few days away, but that was becoming harder and harder to believe.

He'd never missed a heat before, but now almost two months had gone by without one – that couldn't be a coincidence, right? He was scared to consider the possibility of what exactly was keeping his heat away, but he didn't exactly have much of a choice. He needed to take a test; that was the only way to find out why exactly he'd missed his heat twice in a row so far.

That was why he was now standing in a shop, staring at the shelves bearing several brands of tests. It was his lunch break – the only one in the entire week that he and Sasuke didn't share together. The Alpha still had an hour of class left and didn't know Naruto had gone to the store to pick up some tests. He wasn't sure why he hadn't informed his mate about his suspicions. He definitely had the right to know, but – he didn't want to tell him yet. What if the test was negative? Then he would have made the other one nervous for nothing.

And if it was positive …

He shook his head and took a deep breath. If the test turned out positive, he would deal with that outcome later. First he needed to buy some tests and take them; there was no use in getting worked up about the possible outcome already when nothing was set in stone yet.

He selected two tests which promised the highest accuracy and on rubbery legs he made his way to the cash register; his cheeks stinging with an uncomfortable heat. He studiously ignored the forced casual look on the clerk's face and muttered a quick "Thank you" when she handed him both the tests in a small bag and his change.

As quickly as possible he made a beeline for the automatic doors; the little bag in his hand feeling way heavier than it should. The doors hissed as they opened and closed and he set a quick pace to their flat, barely avoiding bumping into other people.

With half an hour left of his lunch break, he locked himself up in the bathroom and took the two tests with a shaking hand out of the bag, placing them both on the sink. He swallowed and stared at them; the cheerful faces of the people printed on them coming across as mocking somehow.

"Come on, just take them, no use delaying it," he muttered and after reading the instructions – having to do that twice after his brain refused to absorb the information the first time – he set about following them.

He placed the white sticks on the edge of the sink afterwards and sank down on the closed toilet lid, clasping his hands together and resting his mouth against them. He would need to wait three minutes before the results would be announced and he'd set his timer on his phone, watching the numbers dwindle down slowly.

What was he going to do if they were positive? He was barely twenty and still studying – not exactly a good combination. How would his parents react? Mum had got him on these suppressants because she had wanted to avoid him having a pregnancy scare like she had had herself during her own time at university. Now he was in exactly the same situation, despite the suppressants.

Fuck, he'd been so stupid. Why hadn't he thought of using a condom during his heat in March? Tsunade had warned him to be careful if he ever ended up being too sick to keep the suppressants down and he'd assured her he knew, geez, no need to repeat it over and over again. And now he sat here: in their small bathroom, awaiting the results of two small thin sticks which held way too much power for being inanimate objects.

He thought he was going to be sick any moment now, his stomach churning and flipping upside down, and he wanted to call Sasuke and hear his voice, listen to him telling him everything would be fine, but he couldn't, because what was he going to say? " _I'm panicking now, because I might be pregnant and that idea is scaring the shit out of me"?_

Sasuke didn't even know he was taking those tests now, didn't even know Naruto had been worrying about the absence of his heats for the past couple of days now. He wasn't aware that right this moment Naruto might actually be expecting his child. Naruto hadn't known how to tell him. How did you tell your mate – the person you only recently bounded with – that you might be expecting his baby? That you'd been stupid and had messed up and that was why he might become a dad much sooner than expected?

Did Sasuke even want children? Naruto's heart squeezed together with fear and he pressed his eyes shut, taking a shuddering breath. They hadn't discussed having children yet. Why would they when they were only nineteen and still studying? Children was something for further down the road, when they had both graduated and found jobs and had settled down somewhere and were actually adult enough to handle raising a child.

With Naruto on suppressants, neither of them had seen the need to discuss an accidental pregnancy. He took his pills every day, there had been no way for them to slip up and make a mistake – except they hadn't taken into account what would happen if Naruto got seriously ill. He'd been back on his suppressants as soon as he'd been able to keep something down, but would that brief pause, literally no more than a couple of days, prove to be enough? Surely not, right? There was no way he'd ended up knocked up from just a couple of days not taking them.

What if he had, though? What if he was pregnant? How would Sasuke react? Would he be happy? Or angry? What if he didn't want children at all? What was he going to do then? If he ended up having to choose between the baby or Sasuke – could he make a choice then?

"I'm so fucked," he whispered, swallowing back tears. It was a futile effort. Some tears still escaped, slipping down his cheeks, leaving a wet, stinging hot trail behind. He wiped his hand roughly across his eyes, not wanting to show up to his next class with red rimmed eyes.

It was hard, though, trying to calm down when all he could do was worry about how Sasuke would react, what his parents were going to say, what he was going to do when the tests ended up displaying a positive result. He was so incredibly _screwed_.

The loud beeping of his phone nearly gave him a heart attack and he barely stopped himself from lunging it straight against the wall. Stuffing it into his pocket again, he slowly rose up, standing still when his legs trembled too much. Once he was relatively sure his knees wouldn't buckle underneath his weight, he went to the sink, the white colour of it suddenly hurting his eyes.

A ringing sound in his ears, he gathered the two tests from the sink and turned the little display screens towards him. Taking another deep breath he looked down at them, watching lines darken across the screens.

He checked the box.

He looked at the tests again. Then back to the box. The tests. The box. Tests. Box. Tests. _Box. Tests._

The sticks made a loud clattering noise when they fell into the sink. Legs giving out, he sank down on the floor, back braced against the small bathtub.

Vision blurring, he pressed his hands across his mouth and just sat there, staring at the wall peeking behind the sink.

The tests were both _**positive**_.

* * *

His first instinctive reaction when he'd managed to crawl out of the numbing black hole he'd fallen into was to call his mum and beg for her help. His phone was already in his hand, his finger scrolling along the contact list when he stopped himself.

He needed to talk to his mum, hear her assure him everything would be all right, that he could do this, this wasn't so bad, but he thought that wouldn't be fair to Sasuke. This … _baby_ – he swallowed, the word feeling alien even in his own mind – was also his; how would he react when he knew that Naruto hadn't told him first? Sasuke had the right to know it first, didn't he? It was – it was his baby after all. That kind of gave him priority over the grandparents, didn't it?

Fuck, he didn't know. He was completely unprepared, had no clue what the hell he was going to do now. He was beyond overwhelmed, panic threatening to drown him once again, drag him down and suffocate him.

He sent an e-mail to his professors, calling in sick for the rest of the afternoon, and crawled into his bed, curling underneath the blanket even though it wasn't that cold at all.

He felt cold, though. As if ice had replaced the blood in his veins and he would never be warm again. His head was pounding, a headache forming steadily, and his eyes were gritty. He was too wound up to sleep, too tired to stay awake.

The sticks were waiting for him in the second drawer of his nightstand, daring him to face the reality of it all, but he couldn't. Not yet. He just wanted to sleep, leave everything behind for a while. He didn't want to think about the consequences yet, about the decisions he would soon be forced to make.

He just wanted to sleep. Be numb to everything. Not having to think about anything for at least a little while. That wasn't too much to ask, was it?

* * *

He must have ended up dozing off after all, because he was startled awake by soft footsteps approaching the bed. The mattress dipped down on his right side when a weight settled down on it and soon he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Naruto? You feeling okay?" Sasuke asked, obviously confused as to why the Omega was in the bed in the middle of the day. "Inuzuka said you didn't go to your classes this afternoon. You're not feeling well?"

The Alpha's voice threatened to set off another bout of tears and Naruto had to swallow several times in order to gain some feeling of normalcy back. Slowly he sat up, allowing the blanket to fall down, even though he wanted nothing more than to bury himself underneath it and never come out again.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke's voice sharpened instantly, the second he noticed the blond's red rimmed eyes. "Did something happen? Did your parents - "

"No, my parents – they're fine," Naruto said thickly, rubbing the back of his hand over his nose.

The panic in black eyes – something Naruto only noticed just now – disappeared, relief flashing up briefly. "Good, I thought," Sasuke cut himself off and shook his head. "Doesn't matter. If your parents didn't call – what happened?"

Naruto thought about lying, telling the dark haired man he was just feeling unwell. He thought about keeping the pregnancy, the damning sticks in the drawer, a secret. What Sasuke didn't know, couldn't hurt him, right?

Then he imagined the hurt on Sasuke's face when the man found out just what kind of a big secret he'd been keeping from him and he realised he couldn't. They had always been honest to each other, hadn't kept any secrets from each other since those girls had bullied Naruto. He couldn't lie to him; Sasuke didn't deserve that.

He was scared shitless as he thought of all the possible ways Sasuke could react – most bad, only a few in a favourable way – but that wasn't an excuse. This baby was just as much his as it was Naruto's and he had a right to know about him or her.

"Naruto, what happened?" Sasuke questioned more forcefully; his eyebrows drawn together in a severe frown. He was tense, his shoulders hunched underneath his light jacket and he looked only a few seconds away from physically assessing whether Naruto wasn't hurt.

"I – I need to tell you something," Naruto started, his mouth so dry it surprised him he managed to get the words out of his mouth.

Sasuke leant back. "Okay, what is it?" he asked warily; his hands limp on his thighs.

Clenching some folds in the blanket between his fingers, Naruto gathered his courage and admitted haltingly, "I – missed two heats."

Dark eyes blinked. "You missed two heats," Sasuke repeated slowly.

"Y-yeah. I should have got it at the start of May, but I didn't and I didn't get it in April either," the blond explained in a small voice. He felt uncomfortably hot with his legs still stuck underneath the blanket, but he wasn't ready to get rid of the cloth entirely either.

"You're – you're sure?" Sasuke asked and his face was carefully blank, so masked Naruto couldn't tell what he was thinking or feeling.

"I'm sure." _The moment of truth_. Heart hammering in his chest, Naruto turned around and pulled open the second drawer, blindly reaching into it. "That's why – t-that's why I went to the store today and bought some tests. Just so – just to be sure, you know?"

"Tests," Sasuke echoed and even his voice had become flat, leaving the Omega with no way to discern what he was thinking.

Not exactly reassured by the way Sasuke was behaving, it took Naruto a bit before he felt brave enough to drop the tests between them on the bed. They bounced lightly once and Naruto watched the Alpha pick them up one by one, staring at the little display screens with an unnerving blank gaze.

"You're pregnant," Sasuke stated after a long moment of silence had passed.

Naruto jerked his head down in a nod, staring down at the blanket. All his courage had abruptly left him and he didn't dare to look up, scared of what he would see on the Alpha's face. "Yeah, I'm – I'm having a baby. Your baby."

"My baby." Sasuke was still staring at the sticks in his hand, completely immobile as if he'd turned into a statue.

Naruto swallowed, the noise loud in the otherwise heavy silence filling the bedroom. Wetting his lips, he asked uncertainly, "Sasuke? Say something, please."

Anything. Whether it was screaming, whether it was mean or good, it didn't matter. He just needed him to say something, because the longer he kept quiet, the more nervous Naruto became, his head filled with all kinds of scenarios about how this conversation would go down.

He jumped when Sasuke abruptly stood up, striding over towards the window, the sticks abandoned on the bed. "You're having my baby," he repeated agitatedly, running his hands through his hair and looking everywhere but the Omega on the bed.

Naruto's heart sank. "Yeah, I am," he said quietly, wondering whether this would be the thing that would push Sasuke away from him, Mark or no Mark.

"You're pregnant and I'm going to be a father," Sasuke mumbled, more to himself than to Naruto. There were too many emotions at once flitting across his face, each one gone too quickly for Naruto to catch them and make sense of them and that worried him.

What was he going to do if Sasuke didn't want the baby?

The Alpha turned his back to him and stared out of the window, appearing so tense it made Naruto's muscles hurt just by looking at him. Biting down on his lip, he collected the sticks and put them back into the drawer, taking care to be as silent as possible.

The silence between them felt fragile, like it would shatter like glass when poked the wrong way. Naruto wanted to say something, but what? What could he say without potentially making this whole situation even worse?

He froze when Sasuke turned around again, his black eyes so piercing they seemed to pin Naruto onto the bed. "Do you want to keep the baby?" he questioned.

The Omega rolled his shoulders. "I don't know," he admitted softly. "Do you?"

Sasuke grew quiet once more before he crossed the distance between them and sat back down on the bed. He surprised Naruto by taking his hands into his, gripping them firmly. "I'm okay with whatever you decide," he said, shocking the blond. "If you want the baby, we'll keep it. If you don't want it, I'll help you find a doctor or maybe some agency if you want the baby to be adopted. It doesn't matter to me. It's your decision."

"Sasuke, it's your baby too, so it's your decision too," Naruto protested, hands tensing up in the Alpha's grip.

"But you're the one carrying the baby," Sasuke retorted, his eyes clear and solemn. "I'm fine with whatever you decide, I promise. It's your call."

"We're still studying," Naruto argued, even though it wasn't as if Sasuke had claimed otherwise. He needed to say it, though, needed Sasuke to understand the enormity of what he'd just promised.

He couldn't make a promise like that so lightly, not when he didn't know what Naruto was going to do.

Sasuke shrugged. "We'll figure out a way to combine our studies with the baby. It's not like we would be the first ones to become parents in our situation," he countered calmly.

"We're just nineteen," the blond said weakly.

"Almost twenty," Sasuke said. "It's not like we're still teenagers in secondary school. A lot of people our age have children."

Blue eyes stared at him. "You'd be really okay with whatever I decide?" Naruto said uncertainly. "You'll be okay if I keep the baby but you won't mind it either if I choose not to keep it?"

The sweet kiss Sasuke bestowed upon his lips made tears sting the back of his eyes again. "I love you and I want you happy," Sasuke murmured, squeezing his hands gently. "I'm not going to force you to do anything. If you want to keep this baby, we're keeping it and we'll make it work. If you want this baby, I'll be there with you every step of the way."

"But would you hate me if I got it removed?" Naruto challenged, needing to know it even when he feared the answer.

A warm hand came up to cradle his cheek. "Naruto, I could never hate you," Sasuke said softly, sincerely. "I promise you, whatever you decide, I'll be there for you. I promised you forever and that includes any children you want to have."

Naruto sucked his lower lip between his teeth, a lump forming in his throat. "I need to think about it," he said thickly, wrapping his fingers around Sasuke's wrist.

Sasuke nodded and kissed his nose. "I'm here," he promised, lying down next to the blond and gathering him in his arms. "I'm not going anywhere."

Clutching Sasuke's shirt with one hand, Naruto buried his nose into the Alpha's neck, letting his familiar spicy, warm scent soothe him, while a hand rubbed slowly across his back.

In that moment he let himself believe that everything would be all right.

* * *

Sasuke was watching the news when Naruto sat down on the couch next to him. The dark haired man automatically lifted his arm in the air, allowing the blond to curl up against his side. The television flickered with images of a building on fire a few towns away from where they lived and Naruto rested his hand on Sasuke's chest, feeling his heart thump reassuringly.

It was a couple of days after they had discovered there was a baby on the way and neither of them had mentioned it after that evening. That wasn't to say Naruto hadn't been thinking about it – he had. In fact, he hadn't been able to think about anything else but the baby the past couple of days, relying on some of his classmates to help him out with his notes, because he'd been too distracted to pay attention in his classes.

Sasuke hadn't said anything, but his embraces at night had become firmer as if he wanted to make sure Naruto understood he wasn't going anywhere, no matter what he would end up deciding to do.

Not for the first time Naruto realised just how much he'd lucked out on having Sasuke as his mate and best friend. What kind of amazingly good deed had he done in his previous life to have deserved this man?

"I know what I want to do," he said and Sasuke stirred next to him.

"About the baby?" he asked quietly, his hand resting warmly on the Omega's hip.

"Yeah," Naruto nodded and released his breath slowly. "I've decided that I – I want to keep the baby. I don't want to get rid of it. I know we're still so young and we haven't even finished our degrees and I don't know what I'm going to do with my classes, but - "

Sasuke cut him off with a soft, tender kiss, stunning him into silence. When he opened his eyes, he met Sasuke's sweet smile and the older man leant down again to give him another kiss, a shorter one this time but not less filled with love.

"Then we're keeping the baby," he said calmly, as if it was that easy.

As they shared another kiss, one deeper and more languid, with the blond straddling his thighs and the Alpha's hand placed protectively over his stomach, Naruto realised that yeah, maybe it was indeed that easy.

With Sasuke at his side, he knew he could handle everything, no matter how tough it would get.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN2: Yep, starting from here on the MPreg part will finally be happening - only took us ten chapters to actually reach this point LOL I hope I didn't mess up the whole discovery scene, though *Sweatdrops*
> 
> Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
> 
> I hope to see you all back in the second part of "Expanding"!
> 
> Cuddles
> 
> Melissa


	12. Expanding Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: Hey guys! Here I am with the twelfth chapter (geez, this story just keeps growing and growing). It's a bit heavier than previous chapters, but well, that couldn't be really helped. Sometimes these kinds of chapters are unavoidable *coughs*
> 
> Thank you so much for the comments and the kudos!
> 
> Warnings: Hm, some angst I guess
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
> 
> I hope you'll like it!

_12 Expanding Part 2_

Later in bed, Naruto murmured, "We'll have to tell mum and dad about the baby."

Sasuke turned his head to look at him. "When do you want to tell them?"

That was a good question, wasn't it? The blond worried his lower lip between his teeth, listening to faint sounds of traffic drifting through the ajar window. They would need to inform his parents soon; news like this could hardly be kept a secret from them after all.

It was just … How would they react? Would they be okay with it? Or would this be finally something that would go too far for even them to accept? What was he supposed to do if they didn't accept the baby, if they got angry at him? He'd always had their support, no matter what – would he still have that once they heard they would become grandparents way sooner than they had expected?

"Why are you worrying so much?" Sasuke sat up, pressing back against the pillow resting against the headboard. His forehead was crinkled into a faint frown and he crossed his legs underneath the blanket.

Naruto sat up as well, dragging both hands through his hair, feeling a tad agitated. "Am I wrong to worry? My mum got me on those suppressants precisely because she wanted to prevent me from having an accident! And look at me now!" He waved wildly over his stomach. "I'm nineteen and already knocked up! All because I was too stupid to remember that I needed to use extra protection during my heat."

"We were both too stupid then," Sasuke murmured and narrowed his eyes. "I didn't remember to use condoms either. Your parents aren't going to be angry, Naruto."

"You don't know that," Naruto said nervously, wringing the edge of his shirt between his fingers. "Having a baby at our age is completely different from you sleeping over, Sasuke. Mum said so herself that she doesn't expect to be a grandma soon and - "

"Look, I know your parents," Sasuke cut him off, snatching his hand and lacing their fingers together. "And yes, they'll probably be shocked at first, they might get angry, but it won't be as bad as you think it'll be. They'll be okay with it, you'll see."

"What if they do stay angry?" Naruto spat, but didn't try to remove his hand. "What then? What are we going to do if they don't want to accept the baby?"

"They're going to accept the baby, Naruto."

"But what if they don't!"

Sasuke pursed his lips together and squeezed his fingers. "Then we'll still have each other," he said calmly. "And other people like your friends to support us. Hell, we'll even have Gaara and his siblings. God knows he likes you more than me." That admission had him briefly scowling and Naruto grinning against his will.

"Yeah, he really does like me more, doesn't he?" he asked satisfied and a peal of laughter was startled out of him when Sasuke suddenly grabbed his hips and pulled him down on the bed, rolling on top of him.

"Don't think I'm giving you up to him," Sasuke said firmly, scowling down at him.

Naruto pretended to think about it, tapping his chin. "Hm, I don't know … He _is_ rather handsome, you know, and - " He started laughing again when Sasuke growled and his hands shot out to grab Naruto's wrists, pressing them down against the pillow.

"You're mine." Black eyes flared up with heat and Naruto bit down on his lip, trying in vain to suppress a smile.

"I'm yours? And here I thought the Mark in my neck was just decoration," he teased and snickered when Sasuke rolled his eyes, hands releasing his wrists to slide down and grip his waist.

"You're insufferable, you know that?" the Alpha informed him gravelly, fingers dipping underneath his shirt.

Naruto smirked, lacing his free hands around Sasuke's neck. "You might have mentioned that once or twice," he confirmed airily. "You're stuck with me, though. No take backsies."

"You're an idiot," Sasuke sighed, looking both utterly done yet fond at the same time.

Any further possible protest or denial was silenced by his lips. They kept the kisses chaste, barely parting their lips as they softly brushed their mouths against each other.

Sasuke pulled back and laid down next to him, keeping one arm casually slung around his waist. "It's going to be all right, I promise," he said quietly; his thumb rubbing soothing circles in Naruto's side.

Naruto breathed out softly. "Yeah, okay," he mumbled, but couldn't bring himself to believe his mate quite yet.

Sasuke sighed softly and nuzzled his cheek. "Do you want to visit your parents this weekend?"

The Omega thought about it, worrying his lower lip between his teeth. He wasn't really looking forward to informing his parents about the news, but he could hardly wait months to tell them. He should perhaps consider the conversation like taking off a band-aid: best done quickly to lessen the amount it stung.

"I guess that's for the best," he mumbled, hooking one ankle around Sasuke's. "The longer we keep it from them, the harder it'll be."

"That's true," Sasuke nodded and asked, "You want to stay there on Monday too?"

On Monday Naruto only had two classes and coincidentally both those classes were cancelled for the upcoming Monday, because both his professors were required to attend a conference in another country. He wasn't entirely sure how the conversation with his parents would unfold, but perhaps staying there for the full three days would be better than skipping town again on Sunday. At least it would give them some time to get adjusted to the news – and hopefully he wouldn't come to regret his decision to stay three days.

"Yeah, that'll give them some time to get used to the news. I'll take a bus back in the afternoon or so," he replied. Or maybe dad or mum would drive him back if Sasuke was right and the conversation wouldn't go that badly. That still remained to be seen, though, and despite Sasuke's confidence, the knot in his stomach was hard pressed to unfold at the thought of telling his parents that he was expecting a baby.

"Why a bus? I'm driving," Sasuke snorted, eyeing him incredulously.

"What? But you have classes on Monday," Naruto said confused. Unlike him, none of Sasuke's professors were supposed to attend a conference.

The Alpha shrugged. "They're only minor courses and I've already finished my reading for them. There's not much to gain from sitting there when I already know what the professors will be discussing."

"If you're sure," Naruto said doubtfully.

"Yes, I'm sure." Sasuke raised an eyebrow and shook his head. "You're mad if you think I'll let you take a bus."

"There's nothing wrong with taking a bus! I've been doing that for years!" Naruto exclaimed, pursing his lips when the other man snorted. "Fine, bastard, what time will we leave tomorrow?"

"It's around an hour and a half drive," Sasuke said pensively. "Around eight o'clock? That way we'll get there at a decent hour."

Blue eyes squinted at him. "What you call ' _decent_ '," Naruto muttered darkly, already mourning the hours of sleep he'd be missing out on tomorrow. He knew it was better to arrive there quite early just to get the most out of the weekend spent at his parents' place, but he was never fond of waking up early.

Sasuke smirked and patted his hip. "You'll survive one Saturday morning without sleeping in."

Naruto scowled at him, not at all amused. Then he remembered something else. "Wait, when are you going to tell Kakashi-san?"

"Why the hell would I tell him?" Sasuke scrunched up his nose, looking and sounding irritated.

"Maybe because he's still your guardian and you know, it'll be difficult to hide the fact that I'm pregnant in a little while?"

"Like hell is that pervert going to be around our baby!"

"Come on, Sasuke, you don't mean that."

"Yeah? Watch me."

* * *

Mum opened the door with a bright grin before Naruto even had the chance to use his key. She must have heard Sasuke's car stopping in front of the house.

"I'm so happy to see you!" she beamed, tugging Naruto in a fierce embrace before swiftly turning to Sasuke and pulling him into a hug too. "I didn't expect to see you again before your summer break!"

Naruto snickered at the deer in headlights look Sasuke was currently sporting, the dark haired man still unused to Kushina's strong hugs.

"Come on in! How long are you staying?" She ushered them inside and dad appeared in the kitchen doorway when she closed the front door.

"Until Monday evening," Naruto replied, peeling off his shoes and replacing them with his house slippers. "I don't have class that day."

"Oh right, you mentioned that. Your professors have to attend a congress, right?" Mum hummed, gesturing for Sasuke to leave their bag with clothes against the wall.

"Yep, so no classes for me," he said and as mum led them both into the kitchen where dad was making tea for everyone, butterflies started racing in his stomach and his hands grew clammy.

He'd called his mum when they had got into the car, telling her they would be coming over for a visit. He hadn't mentioned the actual reason for it, knowing that this was not something he could discuss over the phone – or at the very least, it wouldn't be really appropriate. This was a conversation to be had face to face, even if all the ways his parents could react badly were making him ill.

"How's second year treating you both so far?" Dad asked, once everybody was seated around the kitchen table with a cup of tea in front of them.

"It's going well," was Sasuke's reply – the same one he gave every time Naruto's parents inquired after his lessons.

Dad smiled amused. "That's good to hear. And you, Naruto?"

"Classes are great – except for Mizuki-sensei," Naruto grimaced, tapping his fingers against his bright blue cup. "Guy's a douche and has some serious anger issues. Don't know why that dude ever thought he was fit to teach child psychology."

"Don't insult your professor, Naruto," Mum chided, waggling her finger.

He shrugged and pouted. "It's true! Ask around; nobody likes him!"

Honestly he was wondering whether there was someone out there who actually liked the arrogant professor. Every student he talked to disliked the man, because he tended to act like he was so much better than them, the arrogant prick. Not to mention he couldn't handle it either when a student tried to enter a discussion with him.

They talked about their classes for a while and mum and dad kept them up to date about what had been happening in the village and the police corps. Naruto's godfather, Jiraiya, was yet again travelling somewhere in Europe to promote his books and Tsunade had yet again rejected him before he left to take his plane – nothing new there. Naruto wondered sometimes whether the old man kept asking out the doctor just to find out the many ways in which she could reject him. That or he was just masochistic.

As the hands of the clock neared twelve o'clock, Naruto grew more nervous, wanting to blurt out the news of his pregnancy just like that but at the same time he was scared to tell them, afraid of how they would react. What if they got angry and kicked him out? He didn't think they would do that – didn't want to _believe_ they would do that – but he had a hard time imagining they would be happy either.

Apparently sensing his growing distress, Sasuke grabbed his hand underneath the table and entangled their fingers together. The touch was simple but effective and it settled some of the blond's nerves, knowing that he would have Sasuke at his side, no matter what would happen.

Taking courage out of his mate's presence, Naruto took a deep breath and said, "Mum, dad, we've got to tell you something."

Mum blinked and leant back in her chair. "Okay? What do you need to tell us?"

He opened his mouth, but the words got caught somewhere in his throat and all he could do was stare wide eyed at them, his stomach twisted and flipping uncomfortably. Suddenly he wanted nothing more than to run away, get away before he would have to face their possible judgment, their anger or even worse: _their disappointment_.

He couldn't do this. The thought of facing his parents' disappointment was worse than them being angry and he feared he was going to be sick any second now; the sound of his blood rushing extremely loud in his ears. His cheeks felt uncomfortably hot and he was only vaguely aware of mum and dad growing increasingly worried while he just sat there; fear squashing his vocal chords together, strangling any word that wanted to escape.

"Naruto," Sasuke murmured, drawing Naruto's attention and the Omega turned his head to stare at him, becoming more and more overwhelmed. "Do you want me to tell them instead?"

"Tell us what?" Dad asked and furrowed his eyebrows. His blue eyes shot back and forth between the two younger men. "Naruto, what's wrong?"

He was so incredibly tempted to let Sasuke be the one to break the news, wanting nothing more than to stupidly hide behind his boyfriend, but … They were _his_ parents. He should be the one informing them that they were going to be grandparents soon. If he couldn't even do that, then he couldn't be ready to raise a child either, right?

"I'm pregnant," he ended up blurting out before he could think of a way to breach the topic in a more delicate manner. Immediately he winced and hunched his shoulders, watching apprehensively how his parents' faces grew blank.

"You're … pregnant," Dad echoed flatly; his gaze briefly dipping down to his son's stomach.

Naruto jerked his head down in a nod and squeezed Sasuke's hand tighter. "Y-yeah, I – I took some tests earlier this week and – and they're both positive. I'm – we're having a baby."

"Oh, Naruto," Mum sighed and he flinched. "How did this happen? You're taking suppressants, aren't you?"

"I am – I was," he corrected himself. He'd stopped taking his suppressants the morning after he'd discovered he was pregnant; there was no sense in continuing taking them after all. "But, er, remember that I was sick a few months ago? I – I kept puking and I stopped taking my suppressants until I felt better, because I thought it was stupid to keep taking them when I would just end up throwing them up in the end. I went back on them once I felt better, but a couple of days after that I – I had my heat and the thing is that we, I …" he fumbled, too ashamed to admit that he'd been stupid enough to forget the extra protection, even after both Tsunade and mum had insisted he knew about the risks.

"We both didn't think about using extra protection," Sasuke explained. He sat calmly next to the blond, but his eyes were alert and sharp, studying the pair's reactions across from him.

"Naruto, I warned you about that," Mum said and rubbed her hands over her face. "You should have been more careful."

"I know, okay? It was an accident," Naruto said in a small voice, a lump forming in his throat. "It's not like I forgot on purpose!"

Dad pressed his lips together before questioning, "What are you going to do now?"

"We've – we've decided to keep the baby," Naruto admitted and the dread in the pit of his belly only continued to grow at the sight of the many emotions crossing their faces. They weren't immediately yelling at him, but they definitely didn't look happy either.

"What about your classes?" Mum frowned and crossed her arms. "Please tell me you're not going to flunk out."

"Of course not!" Naruto protested and felt Sasuke tighten his grip around his hand slightly. "I'll need to talk with some of my professors, but I'm going to keep attending my classes and take my exams. I promise I'm not going to stop my studies."

"Naruto, having a baby isn't easy," she said and her frown deepened. "Especially not when you're still studying. How are you going to combine your studies and taking care of a baby? You can hardly leave him or her alone for several hours when you attend your classes. How are you going to pay for all the baby stuff? It's not exactly cheap, you know?"

"I know, but we'll figure it out," Naruto brought out, his voice barely louder than a whisper. He could feel the disappointment practically blasting off mum and dad and he looked away, blinking furiously to keep the hot tears at bay which were stinging the back of his eyes, threatening to escape any moment now.

He knew he shouldn't have expected them to start jumping in joy at the news, but … It hurt to see the disapproval simmering in their eyes.

"Naruto's not going to raise our baby alone," Sasuke said sharply and mum started. "I'll be helping him. We're not the first couple who'll combine studying with raising a baby and we're going to make it work. We can use some of my inheritance to buy things for the baby and I can always find a part time job elsewhere."

"I'm still tutoring some children and the parents pay well; I can keep doing that," Naruto added. It wasn't like he could get rich with tutoring those children in primary school, but the money was nothing to really sniff at either. If he took up a couple of other children, the extra pay would help out with all the extra expenses.

It wasn't like he was stupid or naïve: he knew that raising a baby wasn't exactly a cheap ordeal, but he couldn't give up his baby either. He'd considered it, but he knew he would regret it for the rest of his life if he gave up his baby. Things might get difficult at times, but that prospect wasn't daunting enough to convince him to give up his child. He would deal with whatever came his way, whether good or bad.

"Whether you like it or not, we're going to keep this baby," Sasuke said resolutely, his jaw set. "It's up to you whether you can act as the grandparents or not."

"Sasuke," Naruto hissed alarmed, not liking the tone the other man was using.

"Look, it's a lot to take in," Dad retorted placatingly, rubbing his chin. "It's not like Kushina and I expected to become grandparents at our age. We need some time to get used to it."

"Take your time then. Naruto and I are going out to eat," Sasuke stated and stood up, tugging at Naruto's hand. "Come on, Naruto, let's give your parents some space."

Naruto looked between Sasuke and his parents uncertainly. "I don't know if …"

Mum smiled weakly, waving him off. "It's fine, Naruto. Your dad and I just need a moment to ourselves. We'll see you after lunch, okay?"

"Okay," Naruto agreed dubiously and silently followed Sasuke into the hallway to pull on their shoes again before going outside to the car.

"That went badly," he decided once the car left the street. Bringing his thumb up to his mouth, he started worrying at the hangnail. "Really badly."

"It'll be fine," Sasuke reassured him and rested his hand on Naruto's knee. "Your parents just need some time to get used to it."

"They didn't act like it would be fine!" Naruto insisted; his left foot tapping jittery on the car mat. "Shit, I knew they wouldn't be happy."

"They're surprised, just like we were," Sasuke insisted, shooting him a quick glance and slowing down when the car in front of them signalled he was going to take the turn left. "Give them some time; they'll accept it in the end."

"And what if they don't?" His stomach cramped with fear.

Sasuke waited until they stopped in front of the red light before slipping a hand around Naruto's neck and drawing him in for a quick, but soft kiss. "They love you, Naruto. They're not going to kick you out for having a baby," he murmured, caressing the Omega's right cheek. "Don't worry, okay? I promise everything will be all right, you'll see."

Naruto pressed his lips tightly together, but nodded silently. It wasn't like he had much choice anyway. Either his parents would come around or they wouldn't – there wasn't much he could do about that.

* * *

It was almost two o'clock when Naruto and Sasuke walked back into the house, hand in hand. They had gone for ramen – probably Sasuke's attempt at calming him down – and afterwards had visited the park where they'd had eaten some ice cream as well. It had felt like a regular date between them and just for that moment Naruto had been able to ignore what was awaiting him back at home.

Mum and dad were waiting for them in the living room and they both looked up when the couple walked in. Mum offered a hesitant smile and stood up, stepping forwards to draw Naruto into a hug. The blond hugged her back with one arm; his other hand still holding on to Sasuke, who stood slightly behind him.

"Your dad and I talked," she said, pulling back and lifting her hand to brush his cheek.

"Okay," he said nervously, glancing at dad who was watching them from his seat on the couch.

"We didn't expect to become grandparents at our age, but we love you, sweetheart. If you want to keep the baby, you have our support," she said softly, letting out a surprised "Oomph" when Naruto hugged her fiercely.

"Thank you," he choked out against her shoulder and he felt her nod, her hands rubbing over his back.

"Of course, honey. We'd never kick you out, no matter what you'd do. We'll help in any way we can, okay?"

"Baby-sitting duties for example," Dad piped up, smiling; some wrinkles appearing around his eyes. "Your mother will love that for sure."

"Oh shut up," she sniffed. "Like you're not going to show our colleagues pictures of our grandchild once she or he is here."

Naruto turned his head and caught Sasuke's eyes. They shared a smile before Naruto allowed mum to tug him onto the couch.

This had gone way better than he'd ever dared to hope. It was clear that his parents were still getting used to the idea of becoming grandparents, but they weren't going to kick him out. He felt rather stupid for ever having had that fear in the first place, but …

Well, everything was going to be all right now.

* * *

He'd just finished watering the plants when dad joined him in the garden.

"Dinner almost ready?" Naruto asked curiously, putting the empty watering can next to him on the grass for a moment, and stretched his arms.

Dusk was slowly setting it; the last rays of the sun setting the garden alight in orange and purple. Crickets were already performing their evening song and some birds were squabbling loudly somewhere up in the trees, the leaves rustling violently.

"Almost," Dad confirmed, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "But that's not why I came to see you here."

"Oh?" Naruto eyed him curiously, linking his hands around the back of his neck. "What for then?"

The solemn look on the older man's face set him on edge. "I want to ask you something, and you need to promise me that you'll be honest. I don't mean anything bad with this question, I just need to know for sure, okay?"

"Okay," Naruto said warily, pursing his lips. "What do you want to know?"

"The decision to keep the baby – did it come from you both or did Sasuke-kun convince you?"

"The hell, dad?" Naruto spluttered flabbergasted. "Sasuke didn't do any convincing! He gave me the choice and said he'd be okay with whatever I ended up deciding. What the hell's this about?"

"Language, Naruto," Dad admonished him, but it was said rather absently. He uttered a soft sigh and cocked his head to the right, gazing at his son. "I don't mean anything bad with it, I just wanted to know for sure. I'm glad he didn't pressure you into keeping the baby."

"Of course he didn't. You know he'd never force me to do anything!" Naruto retorted, outraged on Sasuke's behalf. Where the fuck was this suddenly coming from? Sasuke had never forced him to do anything – the guy still asked whether Naruto wanted to spend his heat with him and they'd been together for almost three years now!

"I know he wouldn't," Dad nodded and smiled wryly. "I just needed to know for sure."

"Where's this coming from, dad?" Naruto demanded, crossing his arms. "Why do you think Sasuke would convince me to keep the baby?"

Dad grimaced and glanced at the kitchen where the shadow of the younger Alpha was just passing by on his way to help mum with preparing dinner. He looked back at Naruto and rubbed the back of his head. "I asked, because I'm a bit worried how Sasuke-kun is handling the pregnancy."

Stumped the younger blond stared at him. "Why would you be worried about that? Sasuke's fine with it, I told you that. He's happy we're keeping the baby, he told me a few days ago."

Dad nodded thoughtfully. "I'm not per se worried about him not taking the news of the baby well – I'm just worried how this baby is going to affect him in the long run."

"I'm not following you," Naruto said blankly, not having one clue as to what the Alpha was talking about. What kind of effect could their baby possibly have on Sasuke?

"Do you know whether he has ever talked with a psychologist or a psychiatrist?" Dad asked abruptly, watching him expectantly.

"Er." Naruto blinked, trying to remember whether Sasuke had ever let that bit of information slip. "I – don't know actually. He hasn't mentioned anything about it at least. What has that got to do with our baby?"

"Naruto, Sasuke-kun lost his family once before," Dad said gently. "Losing your family in such a violent manner is already hard to deal with, but to lose them at the age he was, is often even worse. I don't know how much the trauma still affects him or whether he's completely put it behind him."

"I still don't understand what that has got to do with the baby," Naruto said frustrated, raking his hands through his hair and tugging at some strands.

"I've dealt with cases like Sasuke-kun's before and I've noticed that often people in his situation tend to cling to the remaining family – or those they consider family – they have left," Dad explained. He hesitated before continuing, "I was worried that Sasuke-kun might have convinced you to keep the baby, because he doesn't want to lose another family member."

When Naruto opened his mouth angrily, dad continued hastily, "I'm not saying he would have done that on purpose. I know he respects you and he's not a bad person, but I just needed to know for certain, okay, Naruto? Call me overprotective, but I needed to know."

"Sasuke would never force me to do anything," Naruto said through gritted teeth, scowling at him. "He's not – when I told him the news, he said he'd support me whatever I ended up doing. He said he would help me look for a doctor if I didn't want to keep the baby or that he would help me find an agency if I wanted to let the baby be adopted. He's not some crazy guy who's forcing me to keep this baby; I made that choice on my own! He's been nothing but supportive, how could you ever think that of him, dad?"

"Naruto, a trauma like the one Sasuke-kun experienced – it leaves traces behind, no matter how many years have gone by," Dad said calmly, but his features softened. "I don't think he's a bad guy; in fact I'm glad he's the one making you happy. But I just needed to know, okay? I've seen people in cases like his make bad decisions, even if they didn't mean to make those. If you tell me he in no way pressured you to keep the baby, then I believe you and we don't have to speak of this again. I only wanted to hear it from you so that my worries could be eased."

"You don't need to be worried, all right?" Naruto huffed. "Sasuke won't do anything to hurt me, ever. You're being stupid now, dad."

Instead of being offended, dad chuckled. "Yeah, I guess I am. Thanks for putting up with my stupid questions, son."

"Well, you're getting older now – guess your old age is catching up to you," Naruto quipped and relaxed when dad threw his head back and laughed.

Blue eyes – the mirror of his own – glittered when they looked at him and dad grinned. "You know, just because I'm becoming a grandpa soon, doesn't mean I'm old."

"I don't know," Naruto made a big show of squinting his eyes and studying dad's hair, "I think I can spot some grey hairs already. There and there." He pointed at dad's temples, snickering when the man mock growled and hid his temples behind his hands.

"Good thing I'm blond then – grey won't be that noticeable," Dad muttered, poking his temples suspiciously.

"Keep telling yourself that," Naruto snorted before growing solemn. "I mean it, dad. Sasuke would never do anything to hurt me. If I didn't want this baby, he wouldn't have forced me to keep it."

"I know," Dad sighed and clasped his shoulder, smiling softly. "He's a good guy. You two are going to make great parents."

"Well, I've got a great example," Naruto smiled impishly.

The two blonds shared a grin before mum stepped outside to call them in for dinner.

* * *

The next morning found Naruto and Sasuke in Tsunade's practice to the Omega's great astonishment.

"I thought you didn't work on Sunday," he remarked, watching her pull up his file on the computer.

"Normally I don't," she confirmed before scowling at him. "But seeing as someone decided to get himself knocked up when he's yet to turn twenty, your mother called in a favour and asked me to do this check-up before you return to university."

"It's an accident, baa-chan," he pouted, hunching his shoulders when her scowl intensified.

"I'd have you considered to be an even bigger idiot if you had decided to get pregnant on purpose at your age," she snapped. "As it stands, you can't exactly be -"

"Even if the baby was planned, that's none of your business," Sasuke retorted sharply, tensing up. "Are you going to give him a check-up or are you going to keep up this unnecessary commentary? Because if so, we'll seek out someone else to be his attending doctor."

She raised an eyebrow and leant forwards, resting her chin on her clasped hands. "You think you'll be able to find another doctor at my level?"

"Don't think you're irreplaceable," Sasuke retorted without missing a beat. "You're not the only good doctor in this country – keep that in mind next time you want to give your opinion about Naruto or our baby."

"Sasuke," Naruto sighed, slumping into his chair. He really hoped this conversation wouldn't turn out into an outright brawl. The last thing he needed was for his mate and his doctor to fight over him.

Tsunade's comments stung, yeah, but to be honest, he hadn't expected anything else from her. She'd been clear about the risks of not taking extra precaution if he missed a couple of days of his suppressants; he couldn't really blame her for wanting to ream him out after all the cautioning she had done before.

"You've got some spunk, kid," Tsunade said approvingly to Naruto's shock. She pointed her finger at him and glanced at the Omega. "He's a keeper."

"I know that," Naruto replied dryly, but he couldn't keep back a smile when he looked at Sasuke.

She didn't have to tell him he had lucked out enormously with Sasuke as his mate. He was very much aware of that fact.

"All right, let's see how far along you are," Tsunade said and rose up, beckoning at them to follow her. "Naruto, lie down on this table and pull up your T-shirt so that your stomach's bare. You said you missed two heats?"

"Yeah, April and May," Naruto confirmed, climbing onto the examination table. The white paper crinkled underneath him when he laid down and he pushed up his shirt. Sasuke came to stand next to him and anticipation starting building up when Tsunade dragged the monitor closer to him.

"This will feel cold," she warned him right before squirting some gel like substance on his stomach.

The cold liquid hit him like a shock and he hissed, his stomach muscles tensing up briefly.

"Told you," she said amused and after flicking on the monitor, pressed the transducer on his stomach before he could think of a reply.

Naruto turned his head to the screen and watched the grey blackish mass move and pulse. He couldn't really see anything in the image that would indicate he was pregnant and he started to wonder whether the tests hadn't been faulty after all.

"Here's your baby," Tsunade suddenly said, pointing at the left lower corner of the screen.

If Naruto tilted his head to the left a bit, he thought he could make out a small white blob. Was that his baby? It didn't really look like a baby to him, but well, she was the doctor – she would know, wouldn't she?

"That's our baby?" he asked slowly and felt Sasuke's hand descending upon his. When he chanced a glance upwards, he found the Alpha staring transfixed at the screen.

"I know it's not much to look at yet," Tsunade smirked. "But you're definitely pregnant and this white mass you see is your baby."

His heart skipped a beat when he finally comprehended that he was really _looking at his baby right now_. _That tiny white bean right there was his baby, holy shit._

"How – how far along am I?" he croaked out; the lump in his throat coming from out of nowhere.

"Nearly twelve weeks," Tsunade answered after studying the screen closer. "I'd say that makes you due somewhere in December. Probably around the beginning of the month. I'll set up the rest of the appointments with you today, so that you can arrange it with your course work."

The rest of her words were nothing but a buzz as Naruto stared in wonder at the screen. That right there was his baby. He was actually staring at his baby right now and the knowledge made his breath hitch.

Sure, he'd accepted the fact that he was pregnant after seeing the result on the sticks, but actually seeing the proof right in front of his eyes was … Overwhelming. Different. Amazing.

No words could describe how he felt, looking at the image of his baby; his son or daughter who was growing steadily in his belly, waiting for the day he or she would be born. All he knew for certain was that he loved this tiny being already and he'd do anything to keep him or her safe. He might still be rather young, yes, but there was no way in hell he could give up his baby.

When he looked at Sasuke, he gasped softly when he spotted the tears slowly slipping sharp cheekbones. "Sasuke …" He rose up a bit and was instantly wrapped up in the Alpha's embrace.

"I love you," Sasuke whispered in his ear; his tears falling down and seeping into Naruto's cotton shirt. "I love you so much."

Naruto smiled and kissed his temple, wrapping his own arms around his mate's shoulders. Tsunade retreated, commenting softly she would print some copies for them.

"I love you too," he murmured and they remained in that embrace for a long time; the screen next to them still showing their baby.

* * *

Afterwards Sasuke kept looking at the copy of their first ultrasound for a long time; wonder shining through his eyes. Naruto sat next to him and gazed at the ultrasound as well.

Their hands found each other on his stomach, covering the proof of their love for each other tenderly.

Their own little family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN2: This chapter was surprisingly hard to write - which is why it's a day later than I intended to. Apologies for that.
> 
> Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
> 
> I hope to see you all back in the next part!
> 
> Cuddles
> 
> Melissa


	13. Expanding Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: Apologies for taking so long with this chapter. I've had a few rather hectic weeks and I've only just managed to finish this chapter today. Real life sometimes likes to remind me it exists too.
> 
> Something random, but because I'm noisy at times, here's a fun question: if you review and you want to, let me know how old you are :) I'm curious how old my readers for this fic are XD 
> 
> Thanks for all the kudos and the comments! They really make me happy! :D
> 
> Warnings: Fluff, some minor timeskips; pinch of drama; mature content; so the usual for this story LOL
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
> 
> I hope you'll like it!

_13 Expanding Part 3_

The ultrasound received a prominent place on their refrigerator once they were back at their apartment. It greeted them whenever they entered the kitchen and Naruto caught Sasuke staring at it more than once. Their next appointment had been set for the end of June; he'd be sixteen weeks pregnant by then and Tsunade had told them they might be able to figure out the baby's sex if he or she wasn't stubborn.

It was mindboggling to think that in just one month they would already be able to find out whether they were expecting a daughter or a son when they'd only just found out that he was pregnant in the first place. That didn't diminish the giddiness he felt, however, every time he laid eyes upon the ultrasound or every time he brushed his hand across his stomach.

"You're ready?" he asked, slipping on his shoes and stuffing his wallet in his pocket.

Sasuke appeared in the small hallway, holding up the bouquet of white roses they'd purchased an hour ago in his hand. "I'm ready. You got something to drink with you?"

Naruto waggled the cold bottles of water and lemonade back and forth before putting them back in the bag. "Yeah, even got some snacks in this bag as well. We can leave whenever you're ready."

"Let's go then. We've only got a couple of hours left," Sasuke replied and locked the door behind them.

As they made their way to the car, he asked, "Did you get to talk to all your professors yet?"

Naruto's sigh escaped him in an explosive sigh and he ranked a hand through his hair; sweat already starting to bead around his hairline as the pricking sunlight hit him full blast. Squinting against the brightness reflected by the hoods of the cars parked along the street, he answered, "I did, yeah. Most of them aren't making an issue out of it. Said I should let them know if I needed more time for assignments in the future."

Sasuke paused; his car key hovering in front of the door. Narrowing his eyes, he questioned, "Who's giving you trouble about it?"

The blond gestured for him to unlock the car first, not wanting to have this conversation on the street nor desiring to keep standing in this blistering heat for longer than was necessary. Summers like this one really sucked.

"Mizuki was kind of an arse about it," he admitted with a sigh once they were in the car. He dropped the bag between his legs on the floor and put his seatbelt on.

"What did he say?" Sasuke asked, voice dangerously low. His hands were gripping the steering wheel tightly.

"Just being a dick about it. Kind of implying I'm stupid for getting knocked up now, though of course he didn't actually say it with so many words," Naruto snorted. "He also said I shouldn't expect any special treatment and that my work has to be done before the deadlines given, whether I'm having the baby or not."

"You and the baby come first, I don't care what he thinks. We'll take it up to the board if we have to," Sasuke said irritated. "It's none of his business anyway."

"It's fine," Naruto said and squeezed his thigh briefly. "He's a dick, like I said already. Nothing that can be done about that. Either way, all my professors know about it now, so that's done. Did you get the chance to call Kakashi and tell him?"

Sasuke scowled. "Can't we just wait until the baby's here and then tell him?" he asked sullenly.

"You're not going to wait until the baby's born to tell him about him or her, Sasuke!" Naruto huffed and slapped his arm lightly. "He needs to know. Think of it as common courtesy at least!"

"A pervert like him doesn't deserve common courtesy," Sasuke said darkly and Naruto sighed, rolling his eyes.

It was going to take a while to convince Sasuke, but by god, he would manage it. Kakashi still deserved to know after all, as Sasuke's guardian. That and the man would only just whine about it and keep holding it over their heads if they neglected to tell him.

* * *

"I've got something to tell you," Sasuke announced to the grave in front of them. The corners of his mouth twitched when he added, "And it's much better and more exciting news than last year when Naruto told you he broke the record of amount of ramen bowls eaten."

"Hey!" Naruto smacked his shoulder and pouted at him. "That was amazing news, okay? I broke a record, bastard!"

"I'm still not sure whether that's a record you should be proud of," Sasuke said dryly before shaking his head. His features softened when he looked at the tomb again and his arm curled around Naruto's waist, his hand coming to rest on his stomach. "But we're not here to talk about that. We're here with really good news. Naruto's pregnant; you're going to be grandparents and well, I guess Itachi's going to be an uncle."

As Sasuke continued to quietly talk to his family, his voice brimming with pride every time he referred to the baby, Naruto stood there smiling, his own arm clasped around his mate's waist. After the first time Sasuke had been back here, it had become easier for him to return and visit the grave of his family. They tended to make the trip a couple of times each year now, with his mother's birthday being the one fixed date in the year. No matter what else was going on in their lives, without fail they would visit Sasuke's family on Mikoto's birthday.

In the beginning Sasuke had thought it was ridiculous to talk to a stone, but after Naruto had started doing it, talking about whatever popped up in his head, Sasuke had followed. Haltingly at first, looking embarrassed for doing so, but with each visit it became easier for him.

Naruto thought it even helped somewhat. Sasuke's family might not be here anymore in an actual physical form, but the tomb still formed a link between them and talking to them seemed to settle something within the Alpha.

His parents and brother might not be here anymore, but Naruto was certain they were still around in another form. After all, the ones you loved never really leave you.

* * *

It happened so fast that Naruto was too late to react.

One minute Kiba was reaching out to jokingly smack his shoulder and the next moment a leg was swung straight into his gut, the force behind it enough to make him stumble backwards with a shout. Before he even had the chance to clutch his stomach, Sasuke was there, slamming his shoulders against the wall.

"Don't you dare touch him!" Sasuke snarled, looking ready to punch Kiba in the face for good measure on top of it.

"Sasuke! What the fuck!" Naruto yelled shocked and snatched his arm, pulling at it. "Let him go! He's not doing anything wrong, what the hell's the matter with you?"

For a few seconds Sasuke seemed unwilling to release the Beta, but then he allowed Naruto to pull him away. Naruto knew he was only allowing it, because if Sasuke hadn't wanted to move, he wouldn't have.

"Seriously, what the hell, Sasuke?" Naruto said pissed off. "What's got into you?! Kiba, you're okay, man?"

Kiba grunted and rose up gingerly, allowing Shikamaru to assess the damage. "Yeah, I'll be fine," he grimaced. "The fuck, Uchiha?"

Sasuke didn't say anything and just glared at him, his arms seemingly automatically sliding around Naruto's waist, pulling his back against his chest.

Gripping Sasuke's wrists tightly, Naruto bristled, "Don't think you're getting off easily, bastard. Apologise to Kiba, he did nothing wrong!"

"He shouldn't touch you like that," Sasuke growled.

"There's nothing wrong with what he did! You never made a problem out of it before!" Naruto exclaimed, throwing his hands up.

"Naruto," Shikamaru interrupted, an odd knowing look crossing his face. "Do you and Uchiha perhaps have some news to tell us?"

"News?" Kiba echoed. "What the hell does whatever their news is have to do with that arsehole over there kicking me in the stomach?!"

"If what I think is correct, I'd say their news has a lot to do with that," Shikamaru riposted calmly and his gaze flickered briefly towards Naruto's stomach. He did it so quickly it was almost unnoticeable, but it was enough.

_Shikamaru knew_. Naruto squirmed a bit, disliking being put on the spot like this, but he should have expected Shikamaru to have at least some sort of clue. The man was a genius; it shouldn't surprise him that he had an inkling now. Especially if what he said was true and Sasuke's reaction could be tied to the pregnancy – why he would react like that, though, was something Naruto didn't understand.

It wasn't like this was the first time Kiba had jokingly smacked his arm. That was just how the guy was, as tactile as his dogs. Sasuke had never made a problem of that before, because there was nothing to make a problem about – until now apparently.

He looked around, checking whether people were still looking at them and whether they were close enough to eavesdrop. Sure, his professors knew about it and in a little bit it would become harder to hide it, especially considering it was summer and he couldn't exactly put on several layers of clothes, but that didn't mean he was eager for people aside from his friends to know about it.

"Naruto? What kind of news do you have?" Kiba asked confused, glancing warily at Sasuke, whose arms were still firmly winded around the Omega's waist.

Once he was certain the other students had returned to their own business, he turned to his friends and rubbed the back of his neck. His cheeks burning a bit, he admitted shyly, "I'm pregnant."

"Oh shit, there's going to be another Uchiha?" Kiba blurted out shocked.

Naruto felt Sasuke stiffen, the remark obviously hitting a sore spot even if Kiba couldn't know how insensitive that sounded and Naruto tangled their fingers together, pressing their hands firmly against his stomach while he let Sasuke carry a bit more of his weight as he leant backwards. "Yes, another little Uchiha," he said cheerfully, hoping to prevent Sasuke from lashing out again. "Isn't that great?"

"Let's just hope the kid gets your personality, otherwise we're screwed," Kiba grimaced, wrinkling his nose. He'd stopped rubbing his stomach, so he must be feeling better. "Not sure whether having a kid now is smart, but whatever, it's your life. I'm sure you'll do fine."

"Congratulations, Naruto, Uchiha, you'll be great parents," Shikamaru smiled and when he checked his watch, he sighed. "Come on, Kiba, our next class will be starting soon."

"Philosophy, great," Kiba groaned and pulled a face.

"You're the one who picked it," Shikamaru pointed out and after saying their goodbyes, they left together.

With his friends gone now, Naruto whirled around and scowled at Sasuke. "Mind telling me what the hell that was about?"

Sasuke had a caged look on his face and the blond felt his fingers twitch against his sides. "He shouldn't have touched you like that," he said sullenly, clenching his jaw.

"There was nothing wrong with what he was going to do. He's done that a lot of times before, why are you making such a big deal out of it now?" Naruto demanded frustrated.

"I'm not – I wasn't making a big deal out of it," Sasuke retorted frustrated, narrowing his eyes.

"You literally kicked him away," Naruto said incredulously. "That was ' _not making a big deal out of it'_? What the hell, Sasuke?"

The Alpha pressed his lips tightly together and for a moment appeared unwilling to say anything else. He turned his head away, glaring at the grass, and Naruto felt his grip on his waist tightening a bit.

"It's just … I – don't like him doing that when you're pregnant now," he said haltingly, still refusing to look at the blond.

Unwillingly Naruto softened and his ire drained away. "He wasn't going to hurt the baby, Sasuke," he murmured, winding his arms around Sasuke's neck. "He was going for my shoulder, not my stomach."

"I know that," Sasuke muttered annoyed, but didn't look very inclined to apologise.

Naruto sighed, rubbing Sasuke's neck soothingly. "Look, I'm fine, okay? The baby's fine too and would have been fine even if Kiba had smacked my shoulder. He didn't know I'm pregnant before this; I'm sure he'll be more careful now." _Even if he didn't need to be_ , he added silently, but knew better than to say that aloud now.

"So, please don't attack him anymore, all right? That was out of line and you know it."

Sasuke shook his head, but muttered, "Fine," before burying his face in Naruto's neck, breathing in deeply as if he needed the Omega's scent to calm down.

Naruto uttered a soft sigh, but hugged him closer. He would talk to Sasuke about this again at a later time, when he wasn't worked up anymore. He didn't need him to go all protective Alpha on his friends after all.

For now they still had two classes to attend.

* * *

It was two days before their next appointment with Tsunade that Naruto became aware of it. He'd just got out of the shower, blissfully sweat free for however long that would last with the cloying heat, and had changed into a pair of boxers and a thin T-shirt when something seemed to … flutter inside of him.

He paused in the doorway of the bathroom and frowned, the sensation alien and entirely unexpected. Just when he wanted to go to the bedroom, dismissing the odd feeling as nothing important, he felt it again. The flutter like sensation went on a bit longer now and seemed to come from his –

His breath hitched and he cupped his stomach surprised. It was no longer flat; he'd noticed around two weeks ago that it had started growing and now it was already a gentle swelling, just big enough to cup it. Keeping his hands flat against it, he waited, wondering with growing anticipation whether he would feel it again.

_Yes, there._

"Holy shit," he breathed amazed. "Fuck."

"Naruto? What are you doing?" Sasuke appeared in their bedroom, frowning when he spotted Naruto in the doorway. "You okay?"

Naruto looked up and startled Sasuke with his bright grin. "I'm more than okay!" he laughed giddily. "I've just felt our baby move!"

Shocked, Sasuke asked, "What?"

"The baby – he or she moved just now, I could feel it!" Naruto exclaimed excited. "This is fucking amazing!"

In just a couple of strides Sasuke was in front of him, his hands instantly covering his belly. "Is he or she moving now?" he asked urgently.

"A bit, but I'm not sure whether you'll be able to feel it," Naruto warned him. "I'm still not -"

"Far enough in your pregnancy for me to feel the kicking, I know," Sasuke finished and smiled wryly at the Omega's surprised face. "I've read the books, you know."

"Oh well," Naruto blinked. "You'll probably be able to feel him or her kicking in a couple of weeks."

The soft smile on Sasuke's face had his heart skipping a beat and blood rushing to his cheeks, heating them up. "I can't wait," Sasuke said and knelt down so he could kiss Naruto's stomach. Tenderly he murmured, "Hey there, I'm your papa."

The wetness in his eyes was purely sweat and not tears, Naruto swore to himself. He was definitely not feeling emotional about this.

* * *

"All right, brat, how have you been feeling so far?" Tsunade asked, gesturing for him to climb onto the examination table.

"Great," Naruto answered and pulled up his shirt, baring his stomach. "Can't say I've got any complaints."

"So you didn't experience any morning sickness at all?" she inquired, turning on the monitor.

"Nope, can't say I've been really nauseous." Mum had admitted being jealous about that, because while her morning sickness hadn't been that bad, she still had experienced it too often for her liking. He appeared to be one of the lucky ones who didn't have to go through that hell. He wasn't complaining about that, though.

"Well, guess you're lucky then," she hummed. "You've felt the baby moving yet?"

"Yeah, two days ago for the first time!" he replied excitedly and his hand found Sasuke's, curling around it.

"That's good to hear. I assume you two are excited to see your baby?" She raised an eyebrow and smirked. "With a bit of luck, unless he or she is as stubborn as you, brat, I'll be able to see whether you're expecting a boy or a girl. Do you want me to tell you if I find out or do you prefer keeping it as a surprise?"

Naruto turned his head to look questioningly at Sasuke. "It doesn't matter to me. I guess it'll make it easier to prepare some stuff if we know it, though."

"I like to know," Sasuke said after thinking about it for a moment. "It'll be easier to decide on a name, for one."

Naruto nodded. "That's true."

"Okay, give me a moment then, I'll try to find out," Tsunade murmured and she slowly started moving the transducer around.

Eyes glued to the screen, he couldn't help but grin widely when he saw his baby moving around, waving little legs and arms around vigorously. This was the second time seeing him or her on the screen – not counting the times he'd stared at the ultrasound at home – but he doubted he'd ever get enough of it. There was just something so magical, so wonderous about seeing his baby move around on that small screen, knowing he or she was inside his belly, awaiting the right moment to be born.

"It looks like you're having a boy," Tsunade announced smiling, pausing the transducer right underneath Naruto's bellybutton.

"We're having a boy?" Naruto repeated stunned and turned to Sasuke, gaping at him. "Sasuke, we're having a boy!"

"A son?" Sasuke choked out, his dark eyes wide as they switched back and forth between Naruto and the screen. "We're having a son?" His voice caught at the end and he squeezed Naruto's hand.

Tsunade nodded. "Yes, I'm nearly a hundred percent sure that you're having a boy," she smiled. "I've never been wrong before, so I'd say you can start coming up with good names for a boy."

"Yeah, I can we can," Naruto said, his laugh wobbly but happy as he hastily brushed some tears away, so giddy he thought he could start floating any second now.

_A boy. They were going to have a son. A little baby boy._

His lips met Sasuke's halfway in a tender kiss; the Alpha's hands trembling slightly as he cupped Naruto's cheeks.

_Their own baby boy._

* * *

Naruto took it upon himself to call Kakashi and inform him of his pregnancy after Sasuke stubbornly kept refusing to do it. Fortunately the older Alpha hadn't been angry at having been kept in the dark for so long; in fact he'd been rather amused, telling Naruto that he hadn't expected anything else from Sasuke.

Sasuke sulked that night, annoyed that that 'fucking perverted freak' as he so lovingly put it knew about their son now. Luckily Naruto knew just how to distract his pouting mate and make him forget all about Kakashi.

At least for that night. The next morning Naruto found Sasuke on the phone, threatening Kakashi into not pulling any funny business if he knew what was good for him.

Well, at least Kakashi knew now. It was up to him whether he really wanted to test if Sasuke was serious about his threat or not. If he was indeed that stupid – and honestly, given how much the man loved to taunt Sasuke, Naruto wouldn't be surprised if he ended up trying shit after all – then that was all on him and Naruto would give Sasuke free reign to do what he wanted.

Not like Kakashi hadn't been warned after all.

* * *

The first time Sasuke felt their baby kick was during the early morning hours of what promised to shape up to be a lazy Sunday morning in the middle of July.

The heat lingering outside had settled inside their apartment and even with the air conditioning on, sleeping an entire night had become rather difficult. That was why Naruto found himself half awake around a quarter past seven on Sunday, caught between fully consciousness and dozing.

He was lying on his side, the thin sheet kicked all the way back to the foot end of the bed, and he was only wearing his underwear; more than that and he'd go crazy. Sasuke was curled up behind him, spooning him with one hand resting on his belly. Ever since his stomach had become noticeably bigger and more rounded, Sasuke had taken to falling asleep with his hand on his belly. Not that night time was the only time when Naruto could feel his hands on his stomach; during the day Sasuke's hands often found their way to the blond's belly too as if he was drawn towards it.

Naruto didn't think Sasuke was really aware of just how touchy feely he had become over the past couple of weeks. Not that he'd been cold or standoffish before, but it had definitely become more obvious now. Naruto didn't mind. Despite the annoying heat, he quite liked feeling his mate's hands on him and there was just something adorable – though he would never admit that aloud – about watching Sasuke, a strong Alpha, unable to keep his hands off of his belly.

"Can't sleep?" Sasuke murmured, stirring awake.

"Too warm," Naruto sighed and stretched his legs. "I'm going to be so glad once this summer is over." At least he'd got only pregnant a few months ago, so he wouldn't have to give birth in this exhausting heat.

"We could take a cool bath in a bit," Sasuke suggested, his voice still rough with sleep.

"Hm, that sounds – oh!" A firm kick within him startled him and he chuckled, rubbing his stomach soothingly. "Guess he's awake too."

When Sasuke didn't react, he turned his head around and was surprised to meet Sasuke's frozen face, his dark eyes wide in the semi darkness of the room. "Sasuke, you okay?"

"I felt him kick," Sasuke replied, voice cracking. "Just now, I felt him kick."

Naruto grinned and turned around completely, pulling Sasuke's other hand against his belly as well. "It's amazing, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is," Sasuke murmured, his hands slowly travelling across Naruto's belly; the touch reverent and loving.

When Naruto tasted salt when their mouths met for a kiss, he decided to say nothing. He was more than content to lie there and bask in Sasuke's loving touches, watch his mate be eager for the next kick or push.

Until the call of nature could no longer be ignored, of course. Not even Sasuke's sweet kisses were enough to keep him in bed then.

* * *

' _You're sure you don't want to come back and spend your birthday with me?'_ Naruto texted, hooking his ankles on top of a pillow which got discarded near the end of the bed somehow.

It was the twenty-third of July, Sasuke's birthday, and through a stroke of good luck, Naruto didn't have any classes today. He'd been hoping that Sasuke would skip the one class he had today, so they could spend his birthday together – and Naruto could show him just how much he appreciated him – but no dice.

Ever the responsible one, Sasuke had stated that no matter how much he wanted to stay with Naruto – and the blond knew he wasn't lying, that the Alpha had indeed had a hard time leaving him behind at the apartment – he couldn't just skip his class. Besides, it was one class and then he'd be home and they could do whatever they wanted to do.

Sure, but that one class lasted _three hours_ and Naruto was bored. He'd made sure to clear his schedule for today, having finished all his assignments and reading ahead for once, so that he'd be able to spend the whole day with Sasuke with no other responsibilities haunting him, but he'd severely underestimated just how responsible and dedicated to his studies his mate was.

' _I'd love to, but I can't. Just two more hours and I'll be home, okay?'_

Huh, he was actually replying. Naruto blinked, staring at the message. He hadn't actually expected Sasuke to reply to his text. Normally the other man set his phone on silent or just shut it off completely when he was in class, not wanting any distractions.

_This was an interesting development._

Impulsively Naruto stood up and went to stand in front of the mirror, taking a picture of himself. Making sure he was pictured on it completely, he sent it together with the message _'This is what you're missing out on'_

' _I know; you're not exactly making it easy for me here'_

A fox like grin spread across Naruto's face as an idea popped up in his mind. He really shouldn't do this, because it really was only two more hours, but the idea was too tempting to give up.

Lifting his shirt so that his belly was bare, he turned sideways in the mirror and placed one hand against the side of his stomach, taking a picture with the other one. ' _Our baby misses you too'_

That was a low blow and he knew it. Sasuke's weakness for his belly had become very apparent now that he'd entered his fifth month and it was mean of him to try to use that to his advantage, but well …

Desperate times call for desperate measures and all that.

' _Fuck you, Naruto, that's low'_

He could practically hear Sasuke gnashing his teeth together and that only made him grin harder, determined to break Sasuke's resolve. This had just turned into a game and he was determined to come out of it as the winner.

' _Fuck me, hm? Now there's an interesting idea'_

He removed his T-shirt and snapped a picture like that. It wasn't intentionally sensual, he wasn't taking on any kind of poses, but he knew he'd get the point across. Besides there was always time for some more interesting pictures later on in the game if Sasuke decided to be stubborn.

' _What are you planning?'_

He probably looked like a cat who'd eaten the canary when he texted back, _'Nothing, I'm just feeling a bit hot right now. So hot in fact that I'm thinking of taking my shorts off too'_

' _Seriously'_

Humming to himself he turned his back to the mirror, contemplating the way he looked in these shorts. They were actually Sasuke's, but he'd confiscated them a while ago because well, they were perfect for the hot summer days and to be honest, they made his arse look great. At least if he had to go by Sasuke's reaction every time he wore them; he usually couldn't keep his hands off of him then – even less than usual.

Snapping another picture, he replied, ' _On the other hand these make my butt look good, don't they?'_

' _Why are you doing this to me? What did I ever do to you?'_

Snickering, Naruto answered, ' _You left me alone'_

' _So you're going to torture me now?'_

' _Just taking pictures. Don't you like pictures of me?'_

There was no immediate reply now, but Naruto didn't let that deter him. "Let's see just how far I can go," he murmured, trying to decide what he'd do next. He'd definitely take these shorts off, but remaining in front of the mirror was becoming a tad boring. His gaze fell on the unmade bed and he immediately knew what he'd do next.

Climbing back on it, he laid down on his back, reclining against some pillows, and pulled at his shorts, so that the fabric slid down, revealing his right hipbone. With a bit of manoeuvring – and deleting several failed pictures – he finally managed to take a good shot and sent that to Sasuke just like that.

' _Naruto. I'm in class'_

' _I know, don't let me distract you. I guess I'll have to take care of myself instead,'_ he texted back with one hand; his free one idly running over his chest, tweaking his nipple. He gasped softly when that made a spark run through him and he did it again, shivering. He'd discovered early on in his relationship with Sasuke that his chest area was quite sensitive, but now that he was pregnant, the sensitivity seemed to have ramped up tenfold.

Wetting his fingers a bit, he rolled and pinched his nipple between his fingertips, enjoying the sparks of pleasure, making sure he never went too rough, and almost nonchalantly took a picture of him like this. This was definitely already more risqué than the previous pictures he'd taken, but he still sent it anyway; quickly so that he couldn't think twice about it.

Despite being together for almost three years now, he had never sent pictures like this before to Sasuke and a strange mixture of anticipation and nerves took a hold of him. He wondered how Sasuke would react to this, _whether_ he would react and fuck, what had he got himself into now?

It wasn't like he was that insecure over his body – Sasuke made sure to let him know on a regularly basis just how attractive he found him – but actually taking pictures of himself in this kind of situation was something entirely else. Sasuke's reaction to this would either make or break this.

' _Fuck, Naruto, you can't start without me!'_

Relief coursed through him, that small insecure part of him shut up by Sasuke's response. Yeah, that was definitely a positive one; he'd even got the other man to start cursing in his texts, which he wasn't really wont to do.

' _Why not? When the mood strikes, it strikes and seeing as you're not here ~'_

' _Don't you dare continue without me'_

' _Yeah, what are you going to do about it?_ ' He shimmied out of his shorts, dropping them on the floor. Sliding his hand down, he cupped his dick and it quickly hardened, the thought of driving Sasuke absolutely crazy with this spurring him on.

Before he could rethink his next course of action, he took a picture of his cock tenting his boxers and pressed 'Send'; his heart hammering in his chest.

He yelped and nearly flung his phone against the window when it suddenly starting ringing. Sasuke's name flashing across the screen.

"Aren't you supposed to be in class?" he questioned, a tad breathless from being startled.

"I'm on a break now," Sasuke replied, sounding a bit frazzled. "Stop doing this to me, do you have any idea how hard you're making this for me?"

"I definitely have an idea how hard _I_ am at the moment," Naruto fired back cheekily; his fingers clenching tighter around his phone.

"Naruto, seriously, don't do this to me when I can't be there," Sasuke whisper hissed, sounding incredibly frustrated.

Good, now he knew how Naruto had felt when he left the apartment this morning. "Oh, so I'm not allowed to jerk off now on my own?" he asked, faking being offended. "I wasn't aware that you apparently own my body."

"Naruto, when I'm back home, I'm going to take you apart," Sasuke promised darkly. "I'm going to make you scream and fuck you so hard, you'll forget your own name."

The dark, velvety voice of his Alpha right in his ear had Naruto swallowing and his underwear started feeling damp – and that was definitely not because of sweat. "Promises, promises," he scoffed instead and slipped his hand underneath the waistband of his boxers, moaning softly when his fingers curled around his cock. "Why wait for you when I can make myself come? I'm not going to wait another two hours for you to come home, you know?"

"Are you touching yourself?" Sasuke asked lowly, his voice nearing the edge of a growl.

"Hm, touching my cock right now," Naruto breathed out, all shame forgotten in favour for the pleasure spiking through him and the thought of driving his Alpha crazy. "Might even finger myself, I'm getting so wet now, fuck."

"Naruto, fuck," Sasuke swore through gritted teeth.

"Well, I'd love for you to fuck me, but guess I'll have to do this on my own now," Naruto said and groaned when he rubbed his thumb over his slit. "Well, I'm going to leave you to your class now, I've got something of my own to finish here."

"Naruto, wait!"

But Naruto cut off the call and smirked. He had one more thing planned for his mate. Sasuke would probably pay him for torturing him like that; he could hardly wait for that.

The next and last picture he sent only showed one thing: his underwear discarded on the bed.

* * *

_That has to be his personal record_ , Naruto thought when he heard rapid footsteps in the hallway outside the apartment before the door slammed open.

"Naruto!"

Apparently the last picture had been too much for Sasuke. Only a couple of seconds after having sent it, he'd received one single, short reply: ' _On my way'_

Apparently legal psychology was not as important as punishing his mate for sending those naughty pictures.

From his position in the bathroom he watched Sasuke storm into the bedroom after having searched through the rest of the apartment, his eyes wilder than Naruto had ever seen before. He was prowling around like a caged animal, looking through the room and searching the bed for something.

"You're looking for this?" he asked innocently, stepping forwards and leaning his shoulder against the doorframe, swinging his boxers back and forth on the tip of his index finger.

At the sight of him completely naked, Sasuke froze for a couple of seconds before he stalked closer, saying through gritted teeth, "You're a fucking menace, you know that?"

"Hey, I told you I would take care of myself," Naruto remarked, laughing when Sasuke slapped his underwear out of his hand. His laughter quickly changed into a deep groan when his lips were captured in a hard, filthy kiss and fingers immediately slipped between his cheeks, brushing against his entrance.

"Fuck, you're so wet," Sasuke swore, his eyes gleaming when he pushed one finger inside.

"I – I told you," Naruto retorted, breathing hitching when that finger slipped deeper inside. He clenched his hands down around Sasuke's shoulders when a second finger soon joined the first one and his head dropped down when the digits crooked inside him, barely brushing against his sweet spot.

"Hm, you did," Sasuke agreed and started pumping his fingers in and out, aided by the slick liberally coating the Omega's inner walls. "Tell me, what were you thinking about when you were touching yourself?"

"Y-you," Naruto whimpered after hesitating. He spread his legs a bit and pushed his arse back against Sasuke's hand, not caring one wit how that would make him look. "I – I thought about you fucking me."

"Really? And do you still want me to fuck you?"

"Of course I do," Naruto said breathlessly, pressing himself against his mate. "God, I wanted that since this morning and you just didn't want to listen!"

"Say please," Sasuke smirked.

"What?" Naruto blinked, not sure whether he'd heard right.

"Say please and I'll fuck you," Sasuke said, eyes half lidded as he gazed at Naruto.

"Hey, you're the one who left! You should be telling me please!" Naruto protested, but a whine escaped him when Sasuke stilled his fingers. He didn't pull them back, but he also didn't move them anymore and he clamped a hand down on the blond's hip when he tried to move instead.

"Say please," Sasuke repeated, his lips hovering near Naruto's ear.

"God, you're such a fucking bastard," Naruto groaned frustrated.

"You know what I want to hear, Naruto," Sasuke said calmly.

Naruto would have thought he was completely unaffected, except that he could clearly feel Sasuke's hard cock digging into his hip. The way his eyes gleamed darkly was another tip off, one which had a shiver running down the Omega's spine.

Naruto thought about refusing, because shit, Sasuke was the one who'd left so he should be the one begging _him_! He could take care of himself just fine, he didn't need Sasuke to get off.

Except that he _really wanted Sasuke to fuck him_.

Getting off on his own just wouldn't be the same, not when he had the Alpha right here with him, when he could feel his body pressed against his, the promise of a good fuck digging into his hip.

Fuck it, why not? He'd started this game and he'd won, hadn't he? He might be saying please now, but Sasuke had been desperate enough to skip the rest of his class all so he could be with Naruto. So really, Naruto had won.

Ah to hell with it all. Who cared who had won? He just wanted to get fucked now and he had Sasuke in his arms; that was all he cared about at the moment.

Clenching his muscles around the Alpha's fingers, he looked up through his eyelashes and bit down on his lip, watching how the other one's pupils expanded visibly. "Please, _Alpha_ , fuck me."

Sasuke snapped.

* * *

_I should definitely take more pictures like that,_ was the absent thought shooting through Naruto's foggy mind as he moved up and down, bracing himself with his hands on strong thighs behind him. Sasuke's thick cock brushed against his prostate with every second thrust down, sending hot white sparks of pleasure through him. His leg muscles were burning, but he couldn't bring himself to care about that.

Not when pleasure was threatening to overwhelm him with every thrust down, not when his fingers and toes tingled, his Mark throbbing from when Sasuke had kissed and sucked at it.

Not when dark eyes watched his every move, fire lightening them up from within. Not when he could hear the groans and low moans being uttered from between reddened lips; his Alpha's hands clenched down tightly around his hips, helping him move.

Heat coiled within him, a sheen of sweat covering his body, dripping down his face, and he murmured breathlessly, "God, I love having you in me."

It was said almost thoughtlessly, the words spilling out of him before he could stop and think twice, but they didn't miss their effect.

With a snarl, Sasuke suddenly flipped them around, his arms wound around Naruto's back so he wouldn't drop down too abruptly at once. That didn't mean he held himself back at all, though, because his hips snapped forwards again before Naruto could catch his bearings, and the rhythm he set up now was fast, deep and rough.

_Naruto loved every second of it._

Linking his arms around strong, broad shoulders, he gave over complete control, letting Sasuke use him as he saw fit. His mouth was caught into another bruising kiss, muffling his loud moan when Sasuke struck his sweet spot dead on. As if that had been the cue he'd been waiting on, Sasuke drew back a bit and when he slammed inside next, the tip of his cock pressed against his prostate again, sending another jolt of pleasure through him.

It didn't take long for Naruto to start babbling mindlessly, pleading for Sasuke to keep aiming there, _fuck yes, right there, he was almost there, almost, just a little bit more, please, Sasuke, just a little bit and I –_

Naruto screamed and threw his head back against Sasuke's arm when he came, white light flashing across his closed eyelids. His whole body shook like he was experiencing a mini earthquake and his hands scrambled weakly across Sasuke's back, as he gasped and shuddered, spilling his seed between their stomachs.

When his eyes flicked open again, him still dazed and utterly spent, and caught Sasuke's gaze, his mate froze and he moaned lowly. Fingers gripped Naruto's chin, holding him still as Sasuke kissed him deeply, and the Omega felt a shudder ripple through the man on top of him when Sasuke came too, his hips stuttering against his arse.

Sasuke waited a moment longer afterwards, catching his breath before he pulled back carefully and laid down next to Naruto.

"We're so going to get another complaint from the neighbours," Naruto rasped, his throat screamed raw just now.

Sasuke shrugged half-heartedly, one arm across his face. "They're just jealous," he muttered, resting one hand on Naruto's sticky thigh.

Naruto chuckled, the sound dying out as he tried to get his breathing under control again, his heart still hammering loudly in his ears. All of a sudden something Sasuke had said before shot through his mind again and he started grinning.

"What are you smiling about?" Sasuke questioned, turning his head to look at the blond.

"I remember you promising me you'd fuck me so hard I wouldn't remember my name," Naruto paused, delighting in the way black eyes narrowed dangerously. "And guess what? I still remember my name."

"Well then," Sasuke said darkly, rising up and sliding a hand through sweaty, blond strands. "Guess I'll just have to try again then."

_Fuck yes,_ Naruto shivered _. Best way to celebrate this day ever._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN2: I hope this length made up for the longer than usual wait! Next chapter will have someone from Sasuke's past appearing ;) Guess who?
> 
> Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me!
> 
> See you all back in the next chapter!
> 
> Cuddles
> 
> Melissa


	14. Expanding Part 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: A bit later than intended, but my life's been quite hectic lately and I don't foresee that changing any time soon. So in case the next chapter is delayed, just remember that I'm working on it, but life's been rather busy for me lately and I don't have that much time anymore to write. So I'm not abandoning this story, but slight delays can happen.
> 
> Also I have no idea what the hell happened in the beginning of this chapter. I'm blaming my friend and well, the fact that you shouldn't taunt Uchiha. Can't take it, don't dish it out, things like that *coughs*
> 
> Thanks for all the kudos and the comments!
> 
> Warnings: mature content; slight drama; some emotional scenes; some fluff; small timeskips
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
> 
> I hope you'll like it!

_14 Expanding Part 4_

His hand tightened briefly around his hair before Sasuke abruptly pulled away and stood up, padding over to the wardrobe. Stunned Naruto laid there for a moment staring at the ceiling, before he sat up.

"What are you doing?" he asked confused. Weren't they just about to have sex again? He'd been pretty sure of that; it wasn't like Sasuke's response could have been interpreted as anything other than an enthusiastic yes. Had he changed his mind? "You don't want to do it anymore?"

"Of course I want to," was Sasuke's instant retort, even while he was rummaging through the bottom of the wardrobe.

The quickness of his reply mollified Naruto and he tilted his head to the left. "What are you looking for?"

"For this," Sasuke declared and turned around, holding –

A thin, black scarf in the air.

Yeah, his mate had totally lost him just now with that. "And what exactly are you planning to do with a scarf in the middle of the summer?" he questioned blankly. The smirk grazing the other man's face instantly had him sitting up straighter.

"Let's call it a precaution," Sasuke smirked, sauntering back to the bed.

There was something about the way the sunlight made Sasuke's pale skin glow almost ethereally that made it hard for Naruto to focus for a moment. Sasuke was already a sight to behold on a regular basis, but the sun seemed determined to make him look even more beautiful. He was so entranced by the way muscles shifted underneath smooth skin – albeit marred by a couple of developing bruises courtesy of Naruto's overeager lips – that he reacted too late when one of his hands was snatched and something soft was wrapped around it.

"What the …" Stunned he allowed Sasuke to bring his hand to the headboard where he looped the other end of the scarf around it before tying up Naruto's other wrist. When he took a step back, Naruto's wrists were both tied to the headboard, forcing him to lie down. There was still enough slack that he could pull at the scarf and bring his hands closer to his head; the scarf wasn't tied too firmly around his wrists either, but he definitely wouldn't be able to slip loose from them any time soon.

Turning his gaze to Sasuke, he watched the Alpha regard him with a predatory gleam in his eyes; they roamed across his body, lingering at certain places and Naruto's breath hitched and he curled and uncurled his fingers.

Things had just become quite interesting.

"So what's this precaution about?" Naruto questioned and couldn't supress a shiver when a finger lightly drew a line down from the hollow space between his collarbones to right above his cock.

"To make sure you can't touch yourself," Sasuke smirked and the bed dipped down slightly underneath his weight when he lowered himself on it.

"That's … rather mean," Naruto said weakly; his eyes trained on the hands lightly caressing up and down over his thighs, creating goose bumps.

"Really? I promise I'm going to take good care of you, though," Sasuke murmured, eyes half lidded as he bent over to lick at Naruto's lips.

Automatically the blond opened his lips, but Sasuke pulled back, smirked and left a searing line of small kisses across his jaw, down his throat, slipping to the side of his neck. He lingered above the Mark for a moment, before he sucked at it, drawing the skin between his teeth, making Naruto hiss at the unexpected stab of pleasure mixed with stinging pain.

Sasuke pushed his legs open and laid down between them, grasping the Omega's hips. Naruto squirmed when his lips went lower, kissing his collarbones before shifting down and taking Naruto's right nipple between his lips. A light shock went through him when a tongue laved at the nub while fingers rolled and pinched his other one. They both peaked underneath the attention and Naruto clenched his jaw as the stimulation started to tip over into being too intense. Sasuke's body between his legs prevented him from moving much, but he still tightened his legs around the Alpha's thighs when the pleasure started becoming too much.

Fortunately Sasuke seemed to get that and released his nipples, both of them hard like pebbles and a dark red by now. Before Naruto could even utter a sound, Sasuke started dropping kisses on his stomach, the look on his face momentarily softening, before he shifted even lower and his eyes turned sharp and gleaming again.

His hand dipped down and his thumb rubbed across Naruto's rim, where slick was already dripping down, staining the sheets beneath him. He wrapped his other hand around Naruto's cock, smirking wider when it quickly hardened completely and the tips of his fingers swirled teasingly around the Omega's entrance, but didn't slip inside to the blond's great frustration.

"You're just going to tease me like this?" he said, harsher than he intended to, but he needed to feel something in him and Sasuke's teasing _wasn't enough_.

Quirking an eyebrow, Sasuke retorted finely, "And who was the one sending me those pictures, hm? What do you call that?"

"Giving you something to look at," Naruto shot back and whined when he lifted his hips upwards but Sasuke just pulled his fingers back, leaving him feeling bereft. "Come on now! I thought you said you were going to make me forget my own name? That's not the way to do that, you know?"

Sasuke clucked his tongue. "Someone's impatient."

"Sasuke, I swear to god if you don't fuck me now, I'm – oh fuck!" His back jack-knifed when three fingers at once pushed inside him, crooking as if they were beckoning someone before they spread out slightly.

Pumping his fingers in and out, Sasuke asked smugly, "You were saying?"

"Sh-shut up, b-bastard," Naruto stammered, pulling at his restraints when the fingers slid in deeper than before, the tips of them brushing against his sweet spot. The light touch was enough to send sparks of pleasure through his body and he moaned, pushing his arse against the Alpha's hand and tightening his inner muscles around his fingers.

Sasuke kept prodding and pushing against that particular spot, creating burst after burst of pleasure, pulling moans and groans from the blond beneath him. Naruto's lips were caught in a deep, filthy kiss, a tongue dancing around his own and right when he was about to tip over the edge, just a little bit more, one more touch and then –

Sasuke pulled back once more.

"What the fuck, Sasuke!" Naruto barked, eyes flying open to glare heatedly at the black haired man hovering above him with that fucking damn smug look still gracing his face.

"You really didn't think I'd let you come that easily, did you?" Sasuke asked and while his tone was calm, light as if he was simply holding a conversation, his eyes had darkened, glittering with lust, and when he licked his lips, Naruto whimpered quietly.

Bending down to Naruto's right ear, he whispered darkly, "I'm going to take you apart and make you beg for it. By the time I'm done with you, you won't even be able to stand, let alone remember your name."

Heart skipping a beat at that promise spoken in that velvety, soft voice, blue eyes widened when a positively wicked smile was aimed at him.

"Shall we begin?"

* * *

Time and time again Naruto was brought right to the edge, but each time right when the pleasure threatened to become too much, when he finally thought he'd get to come, Sasuke would stop and either retreat or stop the blond from coming by simply tightening his hold around the base of his cock.

Naruto tried to be strong, to not give in because that was exactly what Sasuke wanted, but by god, was it becoming difficult! He couldn't help but let out a sob of frustration when once again Sasuke abruptly stopped him from coming, pulling his fingers out of him and ceasing all stimulation at once.

Chest heaving, he stared through watery eyes at Sasuke, who was eyeing his reddened, throbbing cock with almost a detached interest, before he reached out with his hand. For five hopeful seconds, Naruto thought he'd finally be merciful and let him come, but no. _Of fucking course not._

Instead of jacking him off, Sasuke simply placed his hand on his hip, stroking his hipbone almost absentmindedly. "How are you feeling?" he asked lightly, as if he didn't see the tears of frustration dripping down the Omega's cheeks, the way his entire body was flushed and slick with sweat, how his muscles quivered and tensed at the slightest hint of a touch. He completely ignored Naruto's hips straining upwards, the way his legs trembled, and simply smiled as if he hadn't been sporting an impressive hard dick himself for however long he'd been torturing his mate.

_The sadistic bastard._

"You're fucking evil," Naruto accused him in a scratchy voice. He'd screamed himself raw when Sasuke had sucked him off earlier while fingering him, the double stimulation almost too much, and wasn't proud to admit that he'd literally sobbed aloud when Sasuke had pulled away right before he could come.

"That's not what I want to hear," Sasuke smirked and gripped Naruto's knees, pushing them apart and settling back between them. "I can keep this up all night if I want to, you know. I can get myself off whenever I want, but I'm the one deciding when you get to come."

"God, you're such a fucking arsehole," Naruto gasped, whimpering when Sasuke pressed his hand against his sensitive entrance. His slick was everywhere by now, staining the sheets and smeared across his thighs and Sasuke's hands; he didn't even know how his body kept producing it, because they had to have been going at this for more than two hours already!

"Still not what I want to hear," Sasuke hummed, using both hands to squeeze Naruto's cheeks, his fingers digging in the supple flesh briefly, before thumbing at the loosened rim. He grasped the leg that shot out to kick him and simply raised an eyebrow.

Naruto released an incomprehensible noise, too frustrated to properly form words and threw his head back against the pillow, squeezing his eyes shut when Sasuke just kept rubbing there. He was already nearing the point of overstimulation, being denied over and over again to come wreaking havoc on him, but the simple touch still wasn't enough. Only one thing would be enough and would it be that hard for Sasuke to just give it to him already?!

Warm breath caressed his mouth when Sasuke leant over him and murmured, "Come on, Naruto, you know what I want to hear. Tell me what I want to hear and I'll give you what you want." His new position brought the tip of his cock resting against Naruto's slick entrance and Naruto's brain short circuited at the tantalising promise of finally getting what he wanted.

Straining his hands towards Sasuke, Naruto finally gave in. "Please, Sasuke, please. I need you, I need you inside me, I want to feel you in me. Please, please, just fuck me," he babbled, his brain to mouth filter completely gone now, the frustration and pleasure too much for him to handle anymore. "Please, I really, really need you! I've been good, _please, Alpha, please, fuck me_."

"See, was that so hard?" Sasuke asked, but the way his breathing had quickened and his eyes had darkened betrayed the effect the Omega's begging was having on him and he thrusted inside, sheathing himself inside completely in one go, before Naruto could utter another word.

"YES!" Naruto shouted, relief at finally having his Alpha inside of him making him almost delirious and he pushed back eagerly, wrapping his legs tightly around Sasuke's hips. "Yes, fuck, I need this, I need you, please move!"

He didn't have to say that twice. Finally after such a gruelling long time, Sasuke started fucking him for real, his cock brushing against Naruto's sweet spot with every second or third harsh thrust inside. His hands were like claws around Naruto's hips and he snarled when Naruto came with a scream, unable to hold back any longer now, coating both their stomachs with his seed. His muscles contracted around Sasuke's cock, but instead of slowing down or pausing, Sasuke just kept up the same brutal, fast rhythm; his eyes burning with an almost unholy fire when he caught dazed blue eyes and held them.

He made quick work of releasing Naruto's raw rubbed wrists from the scarf and looped his arms around Naruto's back, pulling him up at the same time he sat up. "Hold on," he groaned into Naruto's mouth when the blond gasped at the shift in position which forced the thick cock inside of him even deeper.

Naruto had just enough strength left to link his arms around Sasuke's neck and then simply held on while Sasuke helped him move up and down; his legs too weak to do most of the work himself. Their moans and groans were swallowed by bruised, reddened lips; their tongues dancing around each other, tips touching, as Sasuke took him again and again. It didn't take long before Naruto was thrown over the edge again, pleasure quickly pooling in his lower belly, and he could only scrabble his hands across Sasuke's back as he rode out his second climax.

Still, Sasuke didn't stop and kept fucking into him, one hand cupping his belly and the other clutching sweaty blond locks as he kissed him again and again, stealing his breath.

"God, you feel so good, so tight around me," Sasuke cooed in his ear, tugging at his earlobe, and Naruto couldn't do anything but weakly moan, clutching at strong shoulders. "You're so fucking gorgeous and you're _all mine. My mate, my Omega_."

"Yes, yes, I'm yours," Naruto agreed mindlessly, crying when pleasure started to build up anew. He felt hot, too hot, like fire was burning him from within, and overwhelmed, and delirious and he could do nothing else but cling to his Alpha, trusting him to keep him together when he fell apart.

And fell apart he did. He was helpless to the pleasure coursing through his veins, sparks alighting his nerves, and he wasn't even aware of his broken moans when he came for the third time, the edges of his vision growing black.

For a moment his consciousness wavered and he was only vaguely aware of the way Sasuke stiffened underneath him, his hand tightening in his hair, and teeth nipping at his Mark when Sasuke finally came as well, coating his insides with his seed.

He could only blink dazedly when Sasuke breathed harshly and pulled back slightly, blinking at him. The Alpha's features softened at whatever he saw in his mate's face and then Sasuke gently lifted him up, slipping out of him before settling him on the bed.

Naruto's limbs just flopped down and he could only lie there, staring at the ceiling, all the strength having left him. Even lifting his pinkie was too much effort; he felt exhausted beyond belief, wrung out and empty, and he just laid there as Sasuke stood up and padded into the bathroom. The tap turned and the sound of water rushing down reached Naruto's ears, but even the promise of a bath couldn't convince him to actually move.

Then Sasuke returned and after kissing his forehead, he picked up Naruto and carried him bridal style into the bathroom where he gently lowered him in the bathtub. He settled down behind him, bracketing him between his legs and started washing him; the washcloth soft against his oversensitive skin.

"You're still with me?" Sasuke murmured against his temple and Naruto found just enough strength to incline his head once.

"Good, just relax. I'll take care of you," he promised, kissing Naruto's shoulder.

He knew he would. Sasuke always took care of him. He closed his eyes and let Sasuke wash him, enjoying how those strong hands massaged his muscles carefully.

Right before he drifted off, trusting Sasuke to take care of him, he decided that this was one hell of a way to celebrate one's birthday.

* * *

He woke up in the middle of the night, though he had no idea why. It took him a bit to find his phone in the dark, trying his best to remain as silent as possible so that he wouldn't wake up Sasuke. Pressing on a random key, he squinted heavily when the screen suddenly flooded brightly to life and after adjusting to it, he noticed that it was still barely two in the morning. He still had several hours of sleep ahead of him, thank fuck.

After returning his phone to his nightstand, he turned to his other side, reaching out cautiously to feel where Sasuke was exactly. He came up empty.

"The hell?" he muttered and stretched out his hand further, shuffling closer to the middle of the bed. When his fingers touched the edge of the mattress, he realised that Sasuke wasn't in bed with him and he shot up confused.

There was no light seeping from underneath the door of the bathroom, so he obviously wasn't in there. His side of the bed still felt relatively warm, so he couldn't have left that long ago. Maybe he just went to the kitchen to get something to drink? He waited for a moment longer, straining his ears to pick up any sounds from the kitchen area, but it remained rather quiet.

Too quiet for his liking to be honest. Unease settling in the pit of his stomach, he slipped out of bed and silently walked out of the bedroom, bracing a hand against the wall to guide him along. The living room was completely dark when he set foot inside of it and that only served to ramp up his unease even further. If Sasuke wasn't in the kitchen, the bathroom or the living room, where on earth was he then? Had he left the apartment? No, that couldn't be it; he wouldn't leave him alone without at least leaving a note behind.

Turning around to go back to the bedroom and locate his phone to call Sasuke, he nearly screamed when a dark figure appeared in front of him with no warning. A hand clamped around his mouth, silencing him, and when his hands shot out to push the other one away, he was quickly pulled towards the window where the curtain was drawn back.

"Sssh, Naruto, it's me," Sasuke whispered tersely, lowering his hand now that the blond was able to see him in the light of the moon.

"Shit, Sasuke, what the hell were you doing? You scared the crap out of me!" Naruto hissed, rubbing over his chest. His heart felt like it was doing summersaults and he winced when their baby gave a surprisingly harsh kick, most likely having been startled awake just now. Instantly he caressed soothingly over his stomach, sending a silent apology to the little boy for startling him.

He started to say, "You even woke up the baby just now! Do you know how long it'll take him to - " but was once again silenced by Sasuke pressing his finger against his lips. Completely bewildered now, he uttered an inquiring noise.

"Someone's breaking in in one of the apartments down our hallway," Sasuke whispered and Naruto stilled, eyes growing wider.

Shit, there was a burglar at their floor right now?

"I heard some weird noises just now, so I came out to look," Sasuke continued, but his eyes were focused in the direction of their front door. "I saw some guy messing with the lock of the apartment three doors further down and entering it."

"Shit, that's Yamada-san's apartment!" Naruto said alarmed and took a step back. "We need to help her!" Mrs. Yamada was a sweet, old lady who treated everyone on this floor like they were her grandchildren, no matter how old they were. She'd been overjoyed when she'd noticed he was pregnant and had come by a couple of times already to talk about baby's necessities with him, giving him advice about which furniture would be the best and which products wouldn't irritate his baby's skin.

She was also frail and small and completely unprepared to take on a burglar.

"She's not in tonight," Sasuke shook his head, standing as still as a statue.

"How can you be sure of that? We need to - "

"I overheard her talking to one of the neighbours that she was staying with her daughter for two days to help her with her new baby, so she's safe," Sasuke explained.

For a moment a surge of relief swept over him, glad to hear that the old lady was safe. Then he couldn't help but start worrying again when he realised that this burglar might not restrict himself to only one apartment tonight. There was a single mother living with her two small children next to Mrs. Yamada; he'd heard them arriving earlier in the evening, so they were certainly home. What if that guy decided to break in at their apartment next?

"We should still do something," Naruto insisted, gripping Sasuke's wrist. "Who says he won't be breaking into another apartment?"

"I'm not letting him inside ours," Sasuke said decisively, his eyes – already dark of their own – nothing but pools of pitch black darkness now. "I need you to call the police and tell them to get here as soon as possible. Stay in the bedroom and don't come out until the guy's gone."

Naruto frowned. "And what are you going to do?"

Sasuke's eyes glinted sharply. "I'm going to keep an eye on our uninvited guest, make sure he doesn't try to break into the other apartments."

"Be careful," Naruto cautioned, not sure whether the burglar was armed. He'd rather not find out, thank you very much.

"I will. Go call the police before he's gone." Sasuke practically blended into the shadows as he silently returned to the front door to presumably keep watch.

Naruto wasn't entirely comfortable with leaving Sasuke alone there, but considering he was currently carrying a baby, it might not be such a good idea to keep watch on a burglar who might get violent when caught. He trusted Sasuke to take care of himself; he had experience in defending and subduing people thanks to Gaara's dojo and he'd also started to learn how to disarm someone from Naruto's dad.

Still, he hurried back to the bedroom and snatched his phone from the nightstand, pressing in the emergency number for the police. He tapped his foot up and down as he waited for someone to pick up on the other end of the line. Fortunately that didn't take long and soon a woman's voice greeted him in a professional tone.

"Police, how can I help you?"

"There's a guy breaking into an apartment in my building. It's on my floor and we don't know whether he'll break into the others as well. Please hurry," he told her and gave her the address of their apartment building.

"Okay, I'm sending a squad right now. You said he's on the third floor, yes?"

"Yeah, third floor. Right now he's in number thirty-four."

"Is there anyone else in that apartment right now?"

"No, the owner is staying with her daughter for a couple of days," he replied, stroking his belly when his baby kept fussing around.

"That's good. Are you still in your own apartment?"

"Yeah, in my bedroom. My mate's watching the apartment to make sure the guy doesn't move into others."

"Were you able to see how the man looks like? Can you describe him for me?"

"No, sorry, I can't. My mate woke up because of some noise and saw him breaking into the apartment. Do you want me to ask him - " he cut himself off when a muffled shout echoed through the corridor outside, followed by the sounds of people struggling and bumping against the walls. "Shit!"

"Sir, what's happening?"

Ignoring the woman urgently calling him, he ran to the front door, his heart skipping a beat when he saw it was open with Sasuke nowhere in sight.

The sounds of struggling were a lot louder now and when he stepped outside in the corridor, he saw two dark shapes fighting each other before one of them – a man taller than the other but also fatter – was slammed against the wall hard and slung to the floor; the other one immediately sitting down on his back and restraining his arms behind his back in what had to be one of the most uncomfortable positions Naruto had ever seen.

Several doors opened at once, the commotion luring other people out of their beds, and with the light spilling out into the corridor, Naruto saw Sasuke sitting on top of the burglar's back; a grim, harsh look on his face.

"Let me go!" the other man yelled, voice oddly nasal, trying to struggle from underneath Sasuke, but it was no use.

He froze up completely when Sasuke bent down and hissed, "Stay still or I rip off your arms."

The threat was apparently credible enough, because the other man didn't even move an inch. Given how murderous Sasuke sounded, that was probably for the best.

"Er, what's going on here?" Mister Katsu asked wide-eyed as he tried to adjust his glasses.

"The fat guy was breaking into Yamada-san's apartment. Sasuke caught him just now," Naruto replied feebly, his heart still feeling like it would beat straight out of his chest. He quickly assessed Sasuke, but as far as he could see, the Alpha wasn't sporting any injuries, which frankly was a miracle, given that the other guy looked like he was double his size.

"Sir? What's happening right now? Are you okay?"

Oh right, he was still on the phone. Still keeping an eye on the two men on the ground, he asked, "Do you still need me to give that burglar's description?"

"Is he in your apartment now?" the woman asked alarmed.

"No, my mate just subdued him outside our apartment. I don't think he's going to move anytime soon now," he told her blankly.

A pause on the other end of the line. "The police will be there with you shortly."

* * *

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked softly, walking over to the couch where Sasuke was sitting.

The police had just left, taking the guy with them, and peace and quiet had been restored in the apartment building. The clock announced it was nearing a quarter past four and he knew he was going to pay for this short night in a couple of hours when he was in his first class.

"He couldn't land a punch on me," Sasuke said calmly. He drew Naruto closer to him when the blond stopped in front of the couch and pressed his face into his rounded stomach; his arms wrapped around the Omega's hips, steadying him.

_That's not what I'm really asking_ , Naruto thought, but didn't push further. Instead he ran his fingers gently through Sasuke's hair, untangling some strands carefully and listening to Sasuke taking deep breaths, face still hidden against his stomach.

He hadn't noticed it earlier when Sasuke had been restraining the guy, but Sasuke had actually broken the guy's nose somewhere during their struggle. There was a rather big stain left on the ground in the corridor; it was going to be hell for the owners to get that blood washed off. Breaking somebody's nose went a bit further than simply subduing the person, but …

He looked down at inky black hair and wondered whether tonight – and more importantly how much of it – had somehow triggered some of Sasuke's memories of his past.

"Didn't I tell you to stay inside?" Sasuke finally stirred and pulled back, gazing up at Naruto with disapproval lurking deep within his eyes.

"I heard people fighting and I couldn't see you in the doorway anymore – what would you have done?" Naruto threw back, quirking an eyebrow. His hands were resting on Sasuke's shoulders now, massaging tense muscles.

"I'm not six months pregnant," Sasuke pointed out; eyebrows pulled together in a deep frown.

"No, you're not, but that doesn't mean either that you have to get into a fight with a burglar. What if he'd been carrying a weapon?" Naruto shot back upset. There was a tremble running down his arms and his legs were starting to feel like rubber, like he would collapse any second now.

The reality of how dangerous this could have been was starting to settle in and he dug his fingers into Sasuke's shoulders, needing something to ground himself. If that guy had carried a weapon like a gun or a knife, this could have ended very badly. Very, very badly. That it hadn't, was nothing short of a giant stroke of good luck.

"I couldn't risk him targeting our home next," Sasuke muttered and he clutched Naruto's hips, his eyes unseeing as he stared at the Omega's belly. "I couldn't risk both of you."

"And I can't risk you," Naruto said softly, cupping Sasuke's face and tilting it up so that they looked each other in the eye. "That Mark I gave you goes beyond wanting to show all those boys and girls that you're mine. It's my promise to stay at your side, to love you, and to take care of you, whatever happens. You can't expect me to not react when I think you're in trouble, just as much as I can't expect that you won't react."

Sasuke swallowed and turned his head to kiss Naruto's left hand. "I can't lose you. Neither one of you."

"We can't lose you either," Naruto said firmly and slid his hands down Sasuke's arms, grabbing his hands and pulling him up. "Come on, let's catch some sleep while we still can. Class is going to be enough of a bitch as it is already."

"I'm not sure whether I'll be able to go to sleep now," Sasuke admitted in a low voice; his right hand spasming in Naruto's.

"Well, I'd still like you in bed with me," Naruto said, forcing himself to sound light-hearted. "You can get the little one back to sleep. He's still fussing around and I know he calms down whenever you talk to him."

Talking to the baby seemed to have an equal calming effect on Sasuke, but he wasn't going to mention that any time soon. He just wanted to go back to bed with his mate and rest for however long the alarm clock would allow them to; fatigue settling in heavily. If that meant luring Sasuke in with talk about the baby, so be it. It wasn't like he was even lying about it; their baby _did_ calm down whenever Sasuke talked to him.

If Sasuke talked to him, the Alpha would calm down, their baby would finally settle and stop using his intestines as his personal punching bag and Naruto would be able to catch a few hours of sleep.

Win-win for everyone.

They crawled back into their bed and as soon as Naruto had found a comfortable position to lie in, Sasuke started rubbing over his stomach, whispering to it about all the things they would get to do once the baby was older. The blond didn't pay much attention to it; Sasuke's low voice having a soothing effect on his already fuzzy brain.

It didn't take long for him to fall back asleep.

* * *

"You sound tired, sweetheart, are you feeling all right?" Mum asked worriedly.

Rubbing a hand over his face, he sighed, acknowledging to himself that he really should have expected his mum to prick right through his fake cheerfulness. The lack of decent sleep had hit him hard and it had been some kind of miracle that he hadn't fallen asleep in any of his classes today.

Supressing a yawn, he replied vaguely, "Just – didn't sleep well."

"Something happened?"

He debated lying about what had happened, blaming his exhaustion on the hot weather, but he felt like somehow she would find out the truth in the end and he'd probably be in big trouble then. He might be officially an adult now, with his own baby on the way, but that didn't make an angry mum less scary.

"Someone broke into one of the apartments on our floor last night," he begrudgingly answered and she gasped on the other end of the line. Hastily he added, "But Sasuke managed to stop him before the guy could even think of breaking into ours. The police came and took him away."

"And you didn't think of calling me immediately?" she demanded, her voice slightly shrill.

"Mum, it's not like there was anything you could do," he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "We're fine, I promise. Just a bit of a nasty shock, that's all."

"You didn't get much sleep then, huh?" she asked knowingly.

"Just a couple of hours. I think Sasuke slept even less than I did, if he already slept," he added, because that was something he doubted. Not that he looked so fresh after only a couple of hours of sleep, but Sasuke looked worse off. He'd been awake when Naruto had dozed off and he'd been awake when Naruto had woken up again.

"How is he holding up?"

He peeked out of the living room and saw Sasuke still busy at the door, installing a camera. He watched for a couple of seconds before retreating into the living room again, sitting down on the couch. "He's setting up a camera at the front door. I tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn't budge," he replied and sighed.

Admittedly he hadn't tried very hard to dissuade Sasuke from purchasing a security camera – the best of its kind – even though personally he felt like it was a bit unnecessary. Then he had remembered what had happened to Sasuke when he was twelve, and what had occurred last night, and he'd decided to let his mate install a camera if that put him more at ease. It wasn't like it would bother him much and if Sasuke felt calmer with its presence, then he was okay with that.

Sasuke had been tense the whole day already, sticking close to Naruto's side whenever they had a break. Even if nothing really bad had happened last night, it would probably be a while still before Sasuke would completely relax again.

"I guess that's understandable, given what happened to him before," Mum said, but sounded a bit conflicted. "Although … Has he tried therapy? To give what happened to him a place."

"I already had this conversation with dad," Naruto groaned, slumping against the back of the couch. "As far as I know, he hasn't gone to therapy. If he thinks he's in need of it, he'll go, I'm sure."

"Maybe it's something you should bring up," she said cautiously.

"What for? Because I told you he's installing a camera? Lots of people do that if there's been a break in nearby," he retorted incredulously.

"I know that, but it might be something you - "

"Mum, no offence, but I really don't want to talk about this again," he cut her off annoyed. "I already had this talk with dad, I don't want to have it again with you."

She was quiet for a moment before she softly said, "You know that I care for you both. I'm just a bit worried."

"I know, but that's not necessary, I promise. We're fine," he said firmly.

"All right," she acquiesced and asked in a much lighter tone, "So how's my grandson doing?"

"Training to be a kickboxer," he answered dryly, rubbing over his right side when the baby gave a particular harsh nudge there, as if he knew they were talking about him.

She laughed. "You were the same when I was pregnant. Really thought sometimes that you were going to leave lasting bruises on my organs."

He wrinkled his nose. "Guess this is my payback then."

"Payback for what?" Sasuke appeared in the doorway, his eyebrow lifted.

Gesturing towards his belly, Naruto answered, "Your son is beating my organs into submission – something which I apparently did to my mum."

"How come he's my son whenever he's being too active?" Sasuke asked dryly, walking over to him. "Wouldn't that be more the fault of your genes than mine?"

Naruto scowled at him and pulled him down on the couch. "Shut up and talk to him so that he'll leave my poor organs alone for a while. I really don't want to run to the bathroom again."

"I can't shut up and talk to him at the same time," Sasuke pointed out, his eyes dancing in amusement. He snorted when blue eyes increased their glare and slipped a hand underneath Naruto's shirt, stroking his stomach slowly. "I've been ordered to tell you to calm down."

"Don't say it like that," Naruto complained and started when laughter chimed in his ear. He'd forgotten mum was still on the phone.

"So, have you decided on any names yet?" she asked, both curious and eager.

"No, we still have to decide on one. We've been mostly looking for furniture and rearranging some of the rooms here," he replied, smiling when Sasuke bent down and rested his ear against his stomach, listening to their baby fuss around.

"Keep some of the shopping for when I can be there!" she exclaimed. "I can't miss out on baby shopping with my son!"

"All right, I'll keep the shopping for clothes until you can be there, how does that sound?" he grinned, sliding a hand around Sasuke's neck and brushing his thumb over his pulse.

"You better do," she huffed. "No way in hell am I going to miss out on this milestone!" Then she groaned. "Eugh, looks like my break is over. I'll talk to you again soon, okay? Give my love to Sasuke and my grandson."

"Yeah, okay, say hi to dad from me."

"Will do, honey. Love you!"

"Love you too." He hung up and looked down, meeting black eyes. "Mum sends her love."

Sasuke hummed and rose up, pecking his lips. "I'm going to start on dinner."

"You need any help?" Naruto made to stand up, but Sasuke shook his head and halted him with a hand against his chest.

"No, no need. You can take a nap in the meantime. You look like you need it," he smirked, but his gaze held a hint of concern.

He was already out of the room before Naruto could point out that he looked in desperate need of a nap as well. With a sigh, he looked around their living room, his eyes falling on Sasuke's laptop on the small table. The camera had been linked to that laptop and the screen was filled with an image of the empty corridor outside.

He stared at it for a little while before getting comfortable on the couch. Turning his head away, he closed his eyes and wrapped his arm around his stomach, feeling their baby nudge his palm gently.

Perhaps a nap wouldn't be that bad.

* * *

"Kakashi sent us something," Naruto said surprised, retrieving the thick package from their mailbox. Classes were over for today and after a quick stop at the supermarket for some groceries to make dinner tonight, they were back at their apartment building. While Sasuke had taken over the other grocery bag, Naruto had wrestled with the little door of their mailbox to pick up their mail.

He'd never expected to get something from Kakashi, though. Certainly not something this big and thick. What could possibly be in it?

"Did he text you he'd be sending you something?" he questioned, flipping the package around. His eyebrows rose when he saw that the package was addressed to them back. Running a hand across the sides, he surmised it had to be some kind of book. Why would Kakashi be sending them a book?

"No, I haven't heard from him in a while," Sasuke replied and eyed the package warily. "Should we even bring it inside? God knows what the hell he put in that."

Naruto snorted and walked to the elevator. "Can't be anything bad. He wouldn't risk his porn stash, remember?"

"I don't know," Sasuke said slowly, following him into the elevator. "He actually might be that stupid."

"Well, we'll find out soon." Naruto shrugged. "If it's something stupid or offensive, you have full permission to do whatever you want to do to him."

"Thanks for that," Sasuke snorted.

After storing the groceries in the fridge, they settled on the couch together with Kakashi's package in Naruto's hands.

"So, who's going to open it?" Naruto inquired, weighing the package in his hands thoughtfully.

The dark haired man shrugged. "You can if you want to. It's addressed to us both anyway."

"True." He made quick work of ripping the brown paper off whatever was in the package, disposing the paper next to him for now.

A light brown cover greeted him, but there was no title on either the front or the spine of it. Turning it around briefly showed him there was no summary on the back either. It was clearly a book, though, so what was it about?

Curiosity growing, he flipped open the cover and cocked his head, studying the simple white red fan symbol printed in the middle of the first page. Just when he wanted to ask whether Sasuke knew what the symbol meant, he felt him freeze next to him.

"Sasuke?" he asked bewildered, his eyes widening when he noticed how pale the other man had suddenly become. "Sasuke, are you okay?"

The book was in Sasuke's lap before Naruto could even blink and to his astonishment, he saw Sasuke's hand tremble when he slowly traced the fan.

"This is the family album my mother made," he whispered, voice thick and _oh_.

The Uchiha family album. A book filled with nothing but pictures of his parents and his brother, all taken in happier times.

"I didn't know Kakashi had it," Naruto said softly, looking at the fan. Considering Sasuke's reaction, he probably hadn't seen this album in years. Why had Kakashi sent it now? Why hadn't he given it to Sasuke earlier?

"I didn't know either," Sasuke said distracted. "I thought it had disappeared somewhere when we'd packed my stuff. I can't believe … I haven't looked at this one in years." He sounded amazed, overwhelmed –

And sad.

His fingers, still tracing the fan, stilled when Naruto placed his hand on top of his. "You want to look through it with me?" Naruto suggested quietly, realising just how important this album was to Sasuke.

He hadn't seen these pictures in years, had only been able to look at the couple of pictures he did have. How did he feel now, now that he had the album back in his hands? Now that all the memories he'd made with his family were back in his lap, collected in this family album, and all he needed to do to see them again was browse through the pages?

Sasuke stared at the page for a long time, his eyes unseeing as if he was somewhere far away, in a place where Naruto couldn't reach him. All kinds of emotions crossed his face, each one disappearing too quickly for the Omega to really make sense of them.

"Yeah, I'd like that," he eventually murmured and hesitated once more before turning the first page.

The first picture was of Mikoto, who despite her obvious exhaustion, was smiling proudly as she held baby Sasuke in her arms. She was lying in a small bed and the overall plainness of the room suggested she was still in the hospital at the time the pictured had been taken. Her husband, Fugaku, was standing on her left side, one hand resting on her shoulder as he looked down with pride at his youngest son. Itachi was kneeling on the bed on his mother's other side, not even looking directly at the camera; all his attention seemed to be fixated on the little baby bundled up in blue blankets.

Underneath the picture in elegant handwriting had been written, ' _23_ _rd_ _of July, Sasuke's born. Welcome to the family, my baby boy.'_

"You were a cute baby," Naruto commented, gauging Sasuke's reaction. When Sasuke just hummed, still studying the picture, he added lightly, "Wish I'll look as good as your mum did when I've given birth."

That had the corners of Sasuke's mouth quirking up slightly before he turned the page to the next picture. This one had Sasuke as a new born again, being held by a man with long, black, bushy hair with a rather stern face. ' _Madara holding Sasuke at Itachi's birthday party_ ' was written underneath this one.

"Who's Madara?"

"My grandfather. He moved to another country when I was around ten years old. Don't know where he is now," Sasuke replied absentmindedly.

The picture on the third page had a young Itachi standing in front of a tree with baby Sasuke cradled against his chest in a sling. Itachi seemed to be pouting slightly, one of his hands cupping Sasuke's head.

"You two look so cute," Naruto couldn't help himself from cooing about the two brothers. "Did he carry you around often?"

"Mother said she could hardly get him to put me down," Sasuke snorted. "She often told me about how when I cried during the night, she usually found Itachi in my room, shushing me to sleep by the time she got out of bed. Apparently he liked carrying me around and even tried to take me to class with him."

Naruto laughed. "And did he succeed?"

In response Sasuke flipped the page and pointed at the picture glued in the middle. It was of a classroom filled with children and parents and right there in the middle was Itachi, holding Sasuke in a sling against his chest, looking particularly pleased with himself.

"Mother forbade him from taking me to his classes, but in exchange for that, she took me with them to Itachi's Family Day at his school," Sasuke explained. "They had actually planned to let someone babysit me, but if Itachi promised he wouldn't take me with him to school every day, they would take me to Family Day."

"Your brother really loved you a lot, huh?" Naruto remarked softly, staring at the picture. Even from the distance the picture had been taken at, Itachi's love for his little brother was clearly visible on his face, written as plain as day for everyone to see.

"Yeah. I really looked up to him," Sasuke said quietly and his fingers tightened almost imperceptibly around the page. "Others considered their fathers to be their heroes – I had Itachi as my hero."

When Naruto looked up at him, he saw black eyes glittering unnaturally bright. Without thinking about it, he closed the album and took it out of Sasuke's hands, placing it on the table. Then he crawled into Sasuke's lap and wrapped his arms around his shoulders, letting the Alpha bury his face in his neck.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, fingers tangling into black strands. "I know how much you miss them."

Sasuke's shoulders tensed up underneath his embrace and then his arms slid around Naruto's waist, hugging him as closely against his body as he could with Naruto's belly in the way; the quiet desperation enough to make Naruto's heart break for him.

Then something wet hit his skin and trailed down and Naruto tightened his embrace, letting Sasuke fall apart in his arms.

As Sasuke grieved in his embrace, Naruto thought about the album, about the pictures in them. He thought about how happy the Uchiha had been before that one faithful night. He thought about the brother Sasuke had looked up to, the one who'd given his life in order to save that of his little brother's; the one who'd made sure to stay alive long enough to make sure his brother would be safe.

He thought about all that as Sasuke cried in his shoulder and their baby restlessly moved around in his belly and then he knew.

He knew what he wanted to name their son.

* * *

"You want to name our son after my brother?" Sasuke's eyes were large, still faintly red rimmed, and they flickered towards Naruto's belly before looking up again astonished.

"Yeah, that is if you don't mind," Naruto said tentatively, placing his hands on his belly. They were ready to go to sleep and their baby was calm inside him now; only the occasional nudge or kick letting him know he was still awake.

When Sasuke continued to stare at him, seemingly lost for words, he explained awkwardly, "Looking at those pictures and hearing you talk about your brother – I can't help but want our son to be like him at least a little bit. Your brother was so brave and he loved you so much; he's the reason you're still here. He's the reason why I got to meet you and love you."

He shuffled closer, linking their fingers together. "Without him, I wouldn't have you. I wouldn't have our baby or have this life together. I want to honour him for that by naming our son after him. If that's okay with you, of course." He eyed him nervously. "If you don't want to, I understand. We'll come up with another name then. But I just thought - " Sasuke's lips cut him off in a soft, but intense kiss.

Framing Naruto's face with his hands, he brought their foreheads together. "I'd like that," he said softly and kissed him again. "Thank you."

Naruto smiled, covering Sasuke's hands with his own. "I love you."

"I love you too. Both of you so much," Sasuke sighed and their mouths met again in another sweet kiss.

In spite of the heat outside, they fell asleep in each other's arms; their hands linked on top of his belly.

* * *

"You can't have that many ramen cups, Naruto," Sasuke said, releasing a sigh of the long suffering. "You know that's not healthy."

"Itachi wants it. You're really going to deny your son what he wants?" Naruto demanded petulantly, covering his ramen loot in the shopping cart.

The unimpressed look he received was honestly quite offensive. "Itachi or you?" Sasuke asked knowingly, raising an eyebrow. He jerked his head towards the shelf. "Put five back at least. You can keep the others."

"But these are limited edition flavours, Sasuke," Naruto whined and pouted. "You can't expect me to put those back!"

"They're not healthy food, you idiot!"

"It has vegetables in it!"

Pointing a finger accusingly at the collection of ramen cups, Sasuke said annoyed, "That dried shit can hardly be called vegetables!"

"It's not dried shit," Naruto retorted, narrowing his eyes. "I promise I won't eat it every day, but just let me buy these, okay? I promise I'll eat as healthy as you want, but I want my ramen!"

"What's your obsession with ramen?!"

Naruto opened his mouth to answer, but a perplexed, male voice interrupted him from behind.

"Sasuke-kun? Is that you?"

When Naruto whipped his head around, he saw a young man standing a few feet away from them; his hair long and blond and put up in a ponytail. His eyes were a bright blue and they lit up when Sasuke turned to face him.

"It is you, un! Oh my god, it's been years! How have you been?" the man asked with a large grin, breaching the distance between them quickly.

As Naruto stood there wondering how Sasuke knew this guy, Sasuke asked stunned, "Deidara?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN2: So yep, that happened *nods* I'm just going to leave this here. 
> 
> Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
> 
> I hope to see you all back in the next chapter!
> 
> Cuddles
> 
> Melissa


	15. Expanding Part 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: I'm ridiculously proud of the fact that I still managed to finish it today. Still busy as hell, but here's the chapter at least!
> 
> Thank you for all the comments and the kudos! You have no idea how much they make my day!
> 
> Warnings: Hm, nothing special yet, I think? I don't know. I have no clue what I wrote *throws hands up*
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
> 
> I hope you'll like it!

_15 Expanding Part 5_

"You remember me, un!" Deidara laughed, looking extremely pleased with that fact for some reason.

"It's hard to forget someone who nearly blew up our shed with his chemistry project," Sasuke retorted dryly _and what?_

This guy nearly blew up a freaking shed? What the hell kind of chemistry project had that been? Naruto stared at him baffled, still trying to figure out how exactly this guy – an Omega he realised now that he was close enough – knew Sasuke. He'd never heard him mention a Deidara before, so how did they know each other? He didn't really look like he could be family of Sasuke – the Uchiha family seemed to be a predominantly dark haired family and this guy was a bright blond. A friend of the family perhaps?

"A minor miscalculation, un," Deidara sniffed, sounding a bit sour before he brightened up again. "The damage wasn't that widespread in the end."

"Father had to buy a new lawnmower," Sasuke deadpanned.

Deidara waved his hand. "I offered to pay for the damage!"

"Yeah, and he knew you were broke, so it's not like you could have recompensated him," Sasuke sighed. "What are you doing here actually? Last time I saw you, you were still living in the town."

"I could ask the same of you," Deidara remarked, looking around pointedly. "Where did you disappear to, un? I haven't seen you in years."

"I asked first," Sasuke said calmly, but Naruto detected a hint of coolness in his voice.

He cleared his throat, attracting the attention of the other men. "You know, it might just be me, but I'm not sure whether a store is a good place to reminisce about the past."

"I suppose you're right, er," Deidara rubbed the back of his neck and smiled awkwardly, "I just realised I didn't properly introduce myself, sorry about that. I'm Deidara; I was a friend of Itachi's. I've known Sasuke since he was just a little pipsqueak!"

"I was seven years old, that's hardly an age to call someone a pipsqueak," Sasuke said, narrowing his eyes and taking a step closer to Naruto, wrapping his arm around his waist.

It didn't escape Naruto's notice how Deidara's eyes narrowed slightly when they fell on Sasuke's arm around his waist before they switched to his rounded stomach. He could see intrigue growing in those blue eyes.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto," he introduced himself, smiling. A friend of Itachi, huh? This meeting might either turn out great or bad, depending on what would be said throughout it.

"Nice to meet you," Deidara grinned. "How did you meet Sasuke-kun?"

"He's my mate," Sasuke said before Naruto could open his mouth and both blonds were a bit stunned at the quickness of the answer.

Surprise softened into something else on Deidara's face and he smiled, "I'm glad you found someone, Sasuke-kun." He looked around then and suggested sheepishly, "Why don't you two finish your shopping and we can go somewhere else to catch up for a bit? If that's okay with you two, un?"

"Er, sounds good to me," Naruto replied, glancing at Sasuke, who nodded his agreement quietly.

"All right, I'm going to pay for my stuff and I'll meet you two outside again," Deidara grinned, waving some packages containing pens in the air.

"Well, this might, er, be interesting?" Naruto suggested, watching the other man walk out of the aisle in the direction of the cash registers.

Sasuke just hummed, a thoughtful look crossing his face.

"I'm keeping the ramen, though," Naruto said offhandedly and started pushing the cart further into the aisle.

"Damn it, Naruto, can't you at least put a couple of them back?" Sasuke sighed, following him and subtly pushing him gently out of the way so he could take over pushing the cart.

Blue eyes rolled, but Naruto let him, though he kept a sharp eye on his ramen collection in the cart. "No, they're limited editions. I need them. Itachi needs them. Do you need any more reasons?"

"You're going to use our son every time you want ramen?"

"They're called cravings, bastard, and you're partly the reason why I'm having them, so shut up and just push the cart. We still need to buy some vegetables."

* * *

"So what are you doing here?" Sasuke asked again.

After putting the groceries in the boot of the car, they'd met up with Deidara again and had decided to go to a little café around the corner, which served a broad variety of different coffees and sweet pastries and slices of fruit pies.

"You're really going to make me answer it first, huh?" Deidara smiled wryly, his hands wrapped around his iced coffee. His dark blue shirt was plastered against his chest and he wiped some sweat away from his forehead. Even with the air conditioning on, cooling off didn't happen immediately.

"I did ask you first," Sasuke pointed out calmly, but his shoulders were tense and his hand was tightly wrapped around Naruto's underneath the table.

Deidara wrinkled his nose but acquiesced with a sigh. "After you left, I didn't stay there for very long," he started, his fingers tapping restlessly against the glass. "It wasn't like I hadn't wanted to leave before; to be honest, the only reason I stayed so long in that town was because of your brother, un."

Naruto felt like that comment held more significance than Deidara made it out to be, but before he could ask, the other blond went on.

"I stayed long enough to earn a bit more money, then took off. It wasn't like I still had anything left in that town to keep me there." He shrugged. "I wandered around for a bit, stayed in a couple of hotels before ending up in this city. I took on a couple of jobs so I could get an apartment and as soon as I had enough money, I enrolled at a college here to get my degree."

"What are you doing now? Still studying?" Naruto asked curiously.

"No, I graduated two years ago, un," Deidara grinned. "I'm now teaching chemistry and art at a secondary school nearby."

"That's an … interesting combination." Naruto blinked bemused.

"Figured I would combine two of my beloved subjects," Deidara laughed and winked. "I know it's not exactly a combination that's expected, but it's fun teaching those children the beauty of art and how chemistry can even be used in that."

"Er, why would you use chemistry in art?" Naruto questioned cautiously, not sure whether he wanted to know the answer.

"Because Deidara likes to blow shit up," Sasuke interjected dryly.

"You and Itachi are the same, un," Deidara huffed, crossing his arms on the table. "No respect for my art whatsoever; it's a damn disgrace."

"Blowing up things is not art, no matter how much you insist it is."

"Whatever, I'm not here to argue with you about the intricacies of art, un," Deidara said dismissively. "I told my story; now it's your turn. Where did you disappear to? I can guess you came here to get your degree and I suppose congratulations are in order," he nodded towards Naruto's belly. "When are you due, un?"

"December," Naruto replied and automatically his hand dipped down to caress his stomach. Itachi was only slightly fussing around now, seemingly having tired himself out after having kicked Naruto's organs into submission again.

"Congrats on the baby. Do you know whether it's going to be a boy or a girl?"

"A boy."

"Nice," Deidara grinned before his gaze swivelled over towards Sasuke, who'd been watching the interaction quietly. "So, your story. Your turn now to spill the beans, Sasuke-kun."

For a couple of seconds it seemed like Sasuke wasn't going to say anything as he stared at Deidara, but then he snorted softly and rolled his shoulders. "There's nothing much to say," he said clipped. "Kakashi took me with him when he left town and we settled into another one a couple of hours away. I went to school there and now I'm here. End of story."

"I'd forgotten how succinct you Uchiha can be," Deidara groaned, rolling his eyes. "It wouldn't hurt you to expand a bit more, you know? Where did you meet Naruto-san for example?"

"In class, three years ago," Sasuke answered curtly.

"And you've been together ever since?"

"Almost, yeah," Naruto confirmed, rubbing his thumb over Sasuke's hand. "We were best friends first."

"Aw, who made the first move, un?" Deidara asked enthusiastically; his blue eyes glittering.

Naruto shared a look with Sasuke and he grinned; the corners of Sasuke's mouth lifting up a bit in response. "Well, officially it was me, I guess, because I kissed him first, but we kind of had a communication issue going on after that," Naruto waved his hand haphazardly, "and so we kind of confessed to each other at the same time after that issue was resolved."

Deidara blinked. "Well, I guess that makes at least for an original story to tell instead of just you two going on a date," he mused.

"And you?" Sasuke asked abruptly; an odd look crossing his face in a flash. "Are you seeing someone now?"

"Ah, yeah, I am actually," Deidara smiled bashfully and rubbed the back of his neck. "I met him a year ago at the club and since then we've been hanging out a lot. We made it officially five months ago. Here, I've got a picture of him, un."

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and went through his photo gallery before turning the phone around and showing them the screen. The picture which greeted them was a close up of a dark red haired guy with greyish brown eyes. He had a rather solemn looking face, but his apparel of a baggy black t-shirt and jeans combined with the small smile lingering across his mouth made him look relaxed.

The picture seemed to have been taken inside a house, because Naruto could spot a television right behind the guy while he lounged in the corner of a soft green couch.

"This is Sasori; he's an owner of several art galleries," Deidara told them and his voice was practically brimming with pride; his eyes shining with love. Clearly this Sasori guy made him very happy.

"A match made in heaven, huh?" Sasuke murmured; his eyes flickering from the screen to the blond.

Deidara's smile turned wistful for a moment before he nodded. "Yeah, I guess you could say that, un." He put his phone back into his pocket and clapped his hands. "Now, tell me: how have you been liking the city so far? Got everything planned for the baby's arrival? Wait, did you decide on a name already, un?"

* * *

"He seems like a fun guy," Naruto commented when they walked into the apartment.

They'd remained in the café for quite some hours while Deidara and Sasuke had caught up with each other – well, Deidara had done most of the talking while Sasuke had reverted to only giving basic answers, never expanding on them like the older blond had been wont to do.

Deidara seemed like a genuine nice guy, someone fun to be around with, so Naruto hadn't seen any issues in exchanging phone numbers when the time had come to part ways.

"Yeah, he's not bad. His obsession with making things explode is weird, but overall he's not bad," Sasuke agreed, which was basically a ringing endorsement coming from him.

Starting to unpack the groceries on the kitchen table, Naruto went on, "I wouldn't mind meeting up with him again. I kind of think it's funny, actually, that your brother and him were friends. Seems like befriending blonds is a family thing."

That last comment escaped him before he could think twice about it and he flushed, his hands freezing around the leek. "Sorry, I didn't mean to - "

"They weren't just friends," Sasuke said quietly.

Quickly Naruto turned around and stared at his mate, who had his back turned to him while he stacked the ramen cups into one of the cupboards. "What? What do you mean with that?" he asked baffled.

"That I'm pretty sure they were more than friends. Or at least they'd been heading that way I guess," Sasuke muttered and closed the cupboard when he was finished putting the cups away.

"They were a couple?"

"I'm not sure whether they'd made it official before Itachi died," Sasuke said contemplatively, leaning against the counter and crossing his arms. "But even if they hadn't yet, they were still heading that way."

"How do you know that? Did your brother say something?" Naruto asked curiously, forgoing emptying the rest of the grocery bag in favour of listening to Sasuke. It wasn't every day that the Alpha voluntarily offered information about his family.

Sasuke shook his head. "No, it was just in the way he tended to treat Deidara differently from the rest of the people he hung out with. That and my mother had suddenly become all too eager to leave those two alone whenever Deidara came over," he added wryly. He exhaled slowly. "Didn't take a genius to figure out why that was."

"Your mother tried to hook your brother up with his friend?" Naruto questioned amused. He had trouble imagining the sweet lady he'd seen in various pictures coming up with such a devious plan.

"What else am I supposed to think when she suddenly insisted on me keeping away from them and helping her out whenever Deidara was visiting?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"Your mother was amazing," Naruto snickered before sobering up. "You don't mind if I invite Deidara-san over?"

Sasuke hadn't seemed to mind talking with Deidara today, but it was one thing to talk to the guy once in a café after years of not having seen him and a whole other thing to potentially having him visit their apartment to hang out. Sasuke might not want to see him again now that the one connecting the both of them was gone.

There was also no guarantee that Deidara would want to visit them, considering he'd moved on with his life, but Naruto took them exchanging phone numbers as a sign that the older man wouldn't mind meeting up again.

"I don't care. The moment he tries to blow up something here, though, I'm kicking his arse out," Sasuke said mildly.

"Well, that's fair, I guess," Naruto smiled and turned back to unpack the last bag. He dared to joke, "Guess a thing for blonds runs in the family, huh?" and grinned when he heard Sasuke chuckle.

He thought bumping into Deidara might actually turn out to be a good thing for Sasuke. If nothing else, at least it would be nice to have another friend in this city.

* * *

"How's the nursery coming along?" Mum asked and parked the car neatly between two others.

"We've got nearly everything set up," Naruto told her and unbuckled his seatbelt. Silently he said goodbye to the car's air conditioning before he opened the door and instantly got attacked by a wave of heat. Eugh, he couldn't wait for autumn to finally enter the country. With it being the beginning of September, though, they were mostly likely stuck for a while still with the hot weather.

Sasuke was already waiting at his door, reaching out his hand and helping him get out of the car. Naruto wanted to tell him that despite having entered his seventh month, he was still capable of getting out of a car, but couldn't bring himself to actually do it.

The Alpha had grown more fussy as of late – something mum had assured him was normal, because his dad had been the same way when she'd been pregnant – and if helping Naruto out of the car made his protective and fussy side settle, then so be it.

"What do you still need to buy?" she questioned and adjusted her sunglasses.

Naruto and Sasuke had gone back to their place for the weekend and mum had taken the day off so that she could accompany him during his shopping for baby clothes. She'd bemoaned the fact that they didn't live closer so that she could be more involved in the nursery, but Naruto had already come across a room in his old home being set up as a second nursery for his baby, so he'd say she was already pretty involved even with the distance between them.

He could tell she was quite excited about becoming a grandmother despite her initial reservations and hadn't been able to refuse when she'd suggested taking them out shopping for baby clothes.

"The crib mainly and everything belonging in it," Naruto replied, following her onto the footway. His hand found Sasuke's and he grabbed it, tangling their fingers together. "And clothes, of course. We already got some onesies, but that's about it."

"Well, I'm going to do my duty as grandmother then and make sure my grandson has enough clothes," she smirked, clapping her hands together.

He couldn't believe he was the one saying this, but, "Don't go too crazy," he cautioned nervously. He'd read that babies grew rather quickly, so it'd be useless to have a large bunch of clothes when their son would only be able to wear those for a few months at best.

The maniacal grin that appeared after his comment didn't set him at ease at all.

* * *

"You know where mum is?" he inquired, coming to a halt next to Sasuke, who was perusing the pyjama section in the baby store.

They'd been shopping for a bit more than an hour already and Naruto could only be grateful for the fact that the shops had their air conditioning on full blast, because otherwise shopping for Itachi's clothes would have been hell. As it was, he couldn't wait to sit down and have something cold to drink, rest his burning feet a bit.

Sasuke looked up briefly and nodded towards the back of the store. "I think she went to check on the onesies. She was saying something about a cute one she'd spotted in the window before we came in here."

"We already bought ten onesies in that other store – how many onesies does she think a baby needs?" Naruto asked alarmed; his left hand resting on top of his stomach. He pressed himself as closely against Sasuke as he could, not fancying having another stranger coming up to him and cooing over his belly. Seriously, what the hell was up with that? Just because he was pregnant, that didn't give complete strangers the right to invade his personal space and try to feel his baby kick.

He swore that the next stranger reaching out with their hand would get it slapped away harshly; he didn't give a shit whether that was impolite or not. There were only a couple of people he didn't mind touching his stomach and a complete stranger was not one of them.

Sasuke snorted softly, automatically resting his arm around Naruto's back. "Guess she wants us to be prepared."

"I'm expecting one kid, not twins," Naruto grumbled and then couldn't help but coo when he spotted white pyjamas dotted with laughing suns. "Aw, this one is cute! We definitely have to get that one!"

"Whatever you say," Sasuke agreed easily, handing the set over to the blond.

When Naruto went to grab another set – a dark blue one this time which had the face of a brown bear in the middle of the shirt – Sasuke brushed a kiss against his temple and murmured, "I'm going to get a basket, okay? That way it'll be easier to carry the clothes to the counter."

Naruto hummed, his focus already shifting to a pyjama set which had the words " _Daddy's Boy_ " stitched into a bright purple on the front.

Carrying the pyjamas over his arm, he turned around to go to the next aisle, wanting to browse through the tiny sweaters and T-shirts there, when a flash of pale blond distracted him. Turning his head around, he froze when he met pale blue eyes just a couple of feet away from him. Those eyes widened in equal shock and bright red painted lips parted in surprise.

"Uzumaki?"

There right in front of him stood Yamanaka Ino, the girl who'd done her best to make his last year at school a living hell before Sasuke had scared her into apologising. Despite returning to the town every couple of months if he managed to, he hadn't seen her since their graduation. Now she stood merely a couple of feet away; her blonde hair still long and pulled up in a high ponytail. She was dressed in black heels, a long, flowing white skirt and a black crop top, showing off her tattoo of a red rose near her right hip.

She seemed just as surprised as him to see him until her eyes landed on his clearly rounded stomach and a myriad of emotions flitted across her face before her lips puckered in a pout.

"I see you got yourself knocked up," she said rather snidely. "You dropped out of university and came crawling back to your parents?"

Her sneering comments had his proverbial hackles raised and he narrowed his eyes. "Not that it's any of your business, but no, I didn't drop out. I'm still studying and on my way to get my degree, thanks for the _concern_."

She scoffed, crossing her arms underneath her breasts. "Yeah, for now. Doubt you'll still be this _successful_ once the kid's here. Where's Sasuke-kun? He still so delusional as to be with you or did he dump you? Is the kid even his?" she smirked, her eyes glinting meanly.

He stared at her, at the way she stared at him triumphantly as if she'd won something, and could only feel pity for her. How sad did one's life have to be to still try to demean someone you hadn't seen in years? To be still hooked on a guy despite the fact that he hadn't been single in years – and who hadn't even shown interest in all those years before?

"Give it up, Yamanaka, you only make yourself look like an idiot now," he said wearily, running a hand through his hair. Ignoring the outraged look on her face, he went on, "Sasuke's never going to be yours."

"We'll see about that," she sneered, taking a step closer.

"Are you blind?" he sighed exasperatedly and tugged the collar of his shirt lower, so that his Mark was in full display. "We're pretty much married to each other now. You never even had a chance with him in the first place; do yourself a favour and get over him."

Pulling herself up to her full height, her eyes flashed dangerously and she hissed, "How dare you - "

"What's going on here?"

Sasuke's cool voice rendered her speechless immediately and she gaped at him when he came to stand next to Naruto. Her arms fell to her sides and she clenched her hands into fists when Sasuke wrapped his arm around Naruto; his hand coming to rest against the side of his stomach. At his papa's touch, Itachi moved, kicking where the thumb was rubbing soothingly.

When Sasuke turned to Naruto briefly, his face softened and he held out the plastic basket. "Here, put those clothes inside."

Even as Naruto dumped the clothes inside the light blue basket, he kept one eye on Yamanaka. He didn't miss the flash of hurt in her eyes at the sight of the Alpha embracing him so intimately and couldn't help the surge of satisfaction that coursed through him. Maybe now she'd finally realising she was fighting a lost battle. She'd never had a shot with Sasuke, but obviously had refused to accept that fact.

He didn't know how he could make it more obvious that Sasuke would never be hers, though. They'd Marked each other, were bound to each other for life through that, and on top of that Naruto was expecting Sasuke's baby. He didn't think he could make it any more obvious that she should give up.

"So? What's going on here?" Sasuke asked again, his voice audibly cooler when he looked at Yamanaka.

Pressing her lips together, she shook her head sharply before plastering an obviously fake smile on her face. "Nothing, just saying hello to Uzumaki-san. Congratulations on your baby and your Marking." She swiftly whirled around and marched out of the store without buying whatever she came for in the first place.

"What happened? Did she say something?" Sasuke demanded, his eyes narrowing as he watched her practically storm out of the shop and disappear into the street.

"Nothing of importance," Naruto murmured and wrapped his hand around Sasuke's wrist, tugging him to the next aisle. "Come on, I spotted some cute sweaters and shirts I want to look at."

* * *

The brief encounter with Yamanaka was basically forgotten by the time mum joined them again in order to pay for the new haul of clothes.

* * *

"Ah, I wish you could stay longer," Mum sighed forlornly when Sasuke dumped their overnight bag in the boot of his car.

They were ready to go back to their apartment after having spent the weekend at his parents' place. Sasuke had briefly visited Kakashi during the morning, but that hadn't lasted long and the scowl he'd worn when he returned, had informed Naruto that the older man had probably delighted in teasing the hell out of Sasuke again. That guy would never grow out of that, it seemed.

"We'll be back in two weeks, remember?" Naruto said, handing over the shopping bags to Sasuke, who stashed it right next to their bag. "I have an appointment with Tsunade then."

She perked up, clasping her hands together. "That's right! Would you mind if your dad and I will be there too? Looking at our grandson on a picture just isn't the same as seeing him actually move," she said wistfully.

"I don't mind," Naruto said and glanced at Sasuke. "You?"

"As long as that pervert stays away, I don't care," Sasuke said, slamming the boot shut. "All right, we're ready to go."

"Take care," Dad smiled, hugging Naruto carefully and patting Sasuke on his back.

"Bye, sweetheart, love you," Mum grinned, kissing his cheeks before doing the same to Sasuke. She then caressed Naruto's belly softly. "And I'll see you in two weeks!"

Naruto laughed and after another round of goodbyes he got into the car, adjusting his seat a bit so that he could lie a bit flatter. He waved at his parents until Sasuke turned around the corner of the street and he could no longer see them.

"You okay?" he asked, cupping his stomach with both hands. In the few hours leading up to their departure Sasuke had been oddly silent – well, quieter than usual at least. He'd also been strangely standoffish, not touching him as much as he usually did.

Dark eyes briefly glanced at him before they focused back on the road. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"Don't know. You just seemed a bit weird in the last couple of hours, so I thought something was wrong," Naruto said, worrying his lip between his teeth.

He racked his brain, trying to find out whether he'd accidentally said something wrong, but couldn't come up with anything. They'd discussed their classes, talked about their friends, how the nursery was set up … He couldn't find anything wrong in the conversations they'd had.

Was he missing something?

"Don't worry, I'm just a bit tired," Sasuke mumbled and reached out to squeeze the Omega's knee. "I'm not used to doing so much shopping in one day, that's all."

"Heh, yeah, when my mum gets into that mood, she's ruthless," Naruto chuckled sheepishly. "My feet have only just stopped killing me actually. You're sure nothing's wrong, though?"

"No, nothing's wrong," Sasuke gave him a quick smile. "I'm just going to be glad once we're back at our apartment so that we can rest. Your old bed didn't seem that small a few years back."

"Ah, tell me about it," Naruto sighed and started fiddling with the radio. His old bed had turned rather small now they had to take into account how they laid in it. His belly was making it quite difficult to find a good position to fall asleep in.

It made him more than happy that the bed at their apartment was a lot bigger.

* * *

It took him a while to see the pattern.

Sasuke's class schedule had undergone some changes, meaning that one day in the week he was home several hours later than Naruto. So far their schedules had aligned in the sense that neither of them had had to wait for more than an hour on the other one. With Sasuke's new schedule however, there was no point for Naruto to wait several hours for his mate's class to be over with, so one day in the week he made his way home on his own.

The first time he had to stay home alone for several hours, Sasuke basically stormed into the apartment as if something had been chasing him all the way from his class to their home. He practically latched onto Naruto for the rest of the night, his hands never straying far from Naruto's body, especially his stomach, and Naruto just rolled his eyes, figuring Sasuke's protective Alpha instincts had been going haywire for a moment now that he hadn't been able to go home with the blond.

He'd actually expected that, considering how fussy Sasuke had become over the last couple of months and he'd started a private countdown to see how long it'd take the dark haired man to get back to their apartment. Barely ten minutes, which was a personal record and made Naruto a bit worried about a potential future speed ticket. He could always ask his parents to exert their police influence and make the ticket disappear if it did exist, but you know, he'd rather not do that.

So yeah, he'd expected Sasuke to be a bit more fussy than usual. No big deal, he could handle it.

The second week mum surprised him by showing up at his doorstep.

"Mum, what are you doing here?" he asked baffled, stepping aside so that she could come in.

She shrugged, unbuttoning her jacket. She was still in her police uniform, but her badge was gone. "I had a seminary in this city, you know, the one your dad attended last year but I couldn't go because I was home sick?"

He nodded, remembering that.

"Well, I followed that seminary today and figured that considering I was here anyway, I would stop by and say hello to my son and grandson," she beamed. "That is, if you don't mind."

"Why would I mind having my mum coming over?" he grinned and jerked his head to the living room. "I'm watching a game show now, you up to watching it with me."

"Mindless television? I'm always up for that!"

That weekend they all attended his appointment at Tsunade's practice and Naruto saw mum wiping away tears when she saw her grandson kick his little feet on the screen. Tsunade reassured them that everything was both fine with Naruto and the baby and that Itachi was growing as he should.

The next appointment was scheduled for the end of October and that was when Tsunade would check whether his body had started changing to accommodate the birth. Truthfully Naruto wasn't looking forward to that particular appointment, but that was not the kind of appointment one could skip – unless they wanted to bring themselves and their baby in danger during labour.

Sasuke was again less tactile than usual afterwards, but Naruto figured that had more to do with the large amount of homework he'd been steadily working through than anything else. Besides he made up for his less than tactile hours later on when they were back at the apartment. Thoroughly made up for it, in fact, so if there was anything to be forgiven for, then Naruto had definitely forgiven him after that.

The third week of the schedule change had Deidara stopping by with a bag of presents for the baby.

"Figured I could give him a head start in appreciating art, un." He winked when Naruto unwrapped a painting set meant for children.

The set was definitely too advanced for a baby, but Naruto appreciated the gesture nonetheless, especially because Deidara wasn't obligated to buy anything for the baby.

"Nonsense, un," Deidara waved away his gratitude. "We're friends, aren't we? Besides, I'll get one Uchiha to appreciate art if it's the last thing I'll do."

Well, not like Naruto could really argue with that goal.

The fourth week had Shikamaru and Kiba joining him to study at his place. Kiba brought snacks with him and when questioned why they were suddenly studying at his apartment, Kiba told him sheepishly he was hiding from a girl he'd accidentally offended.

He wouldn't say how he'd managed to offend the girl badly enough that he needed to go into hiding momentarily, but the snacks he'd brought were amazing, so Naruto couldn't be particularly arsed to care how badly his friend had fucked up.

* * *

Two days before Naruto's birthday had Gaara suddenly showing up at his door.

That was the moment he finally realised something wasn't right.

"Don't take this the wrong way, Gaara, but what the hell are you doing here?" he asked bluntly, crossing his arms. They'd retreated to the kitchen where Naruto had just been about to brew tea to combat the slight chill outside when a knock on the door had interrupted him.

"I can't visit a friend?" Gaara asked mildly, resting his arm casually on the back of the chair. Even with the weather growing chillier by the day, the red haired Alpha was still dressed in a black T-shirt and some ripped jeans.

"Sure," Naruto agreed and narrowed his eyes slightly, "if you had the tendency to visit. We've been living here for two years and you never visited before. I can't help but think there's a reason for this sudden visit, so fess up."

"I was in the neighbourhood," Gaara replied blankly.

"Yeah, pull the other one," Naruto retorted unimpressed. "Come on, be honest. Why are you here?"

Gaara sighed and looked away for a moment, contemplating something. Silence reigned in the kitchen for a while as Naruto waited him out, wanting to know why Gaara of all people had suddenly shown up. Now that he thought about it – ever since Sasuke's schedule had changed, he'd never been alone during those days when Sasuke couldn't go home with him. Was that just coincidence or …

"Sasuke asked me to."

"What? Can you repeat that?" Naruto stared at him, wondering whether he'd misheard him. He had to, right, because there was no way –

Gaara looked at him and admitted begrudgingly, "Sasuke asked me to stay with you until he comes home."

_Oh no, he fucking hadn't._

"And has he by chance asked anyone else to _babysit_ me?" Naruto asked through gritted teeth, his hands turning into fists, his nails digging into the soft flesh of his palms.

For the first time since he knew the Alpha, Gaara looked uncomfortable. When he spoke, it was haltingly, "He might have asked some other people before he asked me, yes. But Naruto, he just wanted to - "

"No." Naruto held up his hand, cutting off whatever excuse Gaara had been about to sprout in Sasuke's defence. "Don't say another word."

His whole body trembled with supressed anger and he was starting to see red; his breathing quickening as he forced himself to stay here instead of storming out.

_He and Sasuke were going to have a talk when the man came home._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN2: Someone's in big trouble *whistles*
> 
> Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me. I hope to see you all back in the next   
> chapter!
> 
> Cuddles
> 
> Melissa


	16. Expanding Part 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: Again a couple of days later than I had intended, but I had things going on this past week that didn't make it easy for me to write for the better first half of the week. This chapter is nearly 10K long, so er, I hope that makes it up a bit?
> 
> Thank you for all the comments and the kudos! They really make me happy!
> 
> Warnings: Angst; drama; time skips; fluff; brief medical examination and explanation of male Omega biology
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
> 
> I hope you'll like it!

_16 Expanding Part 6_

He saw the moment Sasuke was taken aback when he entered their apartment and only found him there. The look crossed his face so quickly Naruto would have missed it if he hadn't been looking straight at him since the second he set foot inside.

Immediately Sasuke schooled his face into a small smile and dropped his bag against the wall. "Hey, how was your day?" he asked and walked over to kiss Naruto on his mouth.

He allowed the touch, but purposefully didn't kiss back and instead said, "Fine, like usual. I hope you don't mind, but even though I appreciate your pro-activeness, I sent the babysitter home again. Considering the baby's still in me, it's a bit early to already call in a babysitter, don't you think so?"

The only credit he was willing to give the Alpha, amidst the burning anger, was that he had at least the grace to look caught and didn't try to act as if he didn't know what Naruto was talking about.

"I can explain," Sasuke said quietly.

"Great, because I'm all ears! I'd love to know why you think I need a goddamn babysitter. You think I'm so weak I can't be on my own for a measly few hours?" Naruto hissed and stood up, too jittery to keep sitting.

"You know I don't think of you as weak, Naruto," Sasuke said exasperatedly. "I never thought that and I'll never think that."

"Then what the hell were all those babysitters for? Did you even rope my mum into this?" he asked sharply.

Sasuke shifted, clearly uncomfortable.

"Well?"

"I asked her to stop by our place when she was nearby that one time, yeah," Sasuke admitted and sighed. "She was planning on stopping by either way, so it's not like she went out of her way to do it."

"That doesn't matter, Sasuke! The point is that you dumped all these babysitters on me! What the fuck is up with that? Don't you trust me?" Naruto exploded, throwing his hands out.

"They're not babysitters and you know I trust you, you're one of the few people I trust," Sasuke retorted, gazing at him with an intense look in his eyes.

"You've still not explained why the hell you told them all to keep an eye on me," Naruto snapped and crossed his arms. "I'm still waiting here!"

"Damn it, Naruto, I didn't tell them to keep an eye on you," Sasuke growled, running his hands through his hair agitatedly. "I just – didn't want you to be alone, that's all."

"That's not all." Blue eyes narrowed. "It's not like I'm alone for days on end – it's literally just a couple of hours once a week. Yet you keep telling people to visit me every time."

"I thought you liked company?" Sasuke asked and sounded oddly petulant. "That you liked being around friends?"

"Sure, I like company and I love hanging out with my friends," Naruto agreed before adding poisonously sweet, "if I can choose whether I'm in the mood for company or not. Which definitely wasn't the case during the past weeks. So you want to try something else bar the company excuse?"

Sasuke clenched his jaw and for a couple of seconds it actually looked like he would leave the room. His whole body was tense and he looked away, all kinds of emotions warring across his face. He seemed to be debating something, like he was thinking about several different answers and discarding the ones he didn't deem good enough.

Silence started to reign heavily between them and Naruto started to wonder whether he was going to get an actual answer or not. The insecurity of not knowing both made him more pissed off and resigned at the same time. If Sasuke didn't want to talk, he wouldn't; that he had learnt long ago.

He'd been willing to let the subject drop all the previous times, but he wasn't about to extend that same courtesy now. He wanted an answer and he was going to get one, no matter how long it would take.

Sasuke surprised him by suddenly dropping down on the couch and rubbing his hands briskly over his face. "I'm just – not comfortable with you being on your own here, okay?" he groused out eventually, looking and sounding pissed off.

With who or what, Naruto couldn't say. "It's only a couple of hours, Sasuke," he sighed and sat back down again. "I can perfectly handle being alone for a while. There's nothing for you to worry about."

"You don't know that!"

The unexpected outburst had Naruto rearing back in surprise and he stared speechlessly at the other man. Black eyes were nearly glowing before they abruptly looked away; the Alpha appearing somewhat ashamed of his reaction.

It told Naruto all he needed to know, though. Enough to realise that perhaps he shouldn't have been so quick to discard his parents' concerns.

Blue eyes wandered around the room, looking in the direction of the front door where he knew a camera recorded anyone passing by or entering the apartment. His gaze then flicked towards the kitchen before landing on his mate, who still refused to look at him; his cheeks looking a bit flushed.

Naruto sat there, mulling everything over; the camera surveillance, Sasuke's refusal to leave him alone for even a couple of hours, the way he reacted whenever even the slightest hint of a threat presented itself … and acknowledged that maybe the time had come to finally breach the subject after all. He hadn't really wanted to, because he knew what kind of sensitive points he would hit with it, but he didn't really have much of a choice anymore. This couldn't go on like this. _They_ couldn't go on like this. It wasn't healthy and if left unspoken, he thought it would only grow worse.

"Sasuke, have you ever …" he trailed off, but gathered his courage when Sasuke turned to look at him. "Have you ever, you know, talked to a therapist or a psychologist?"

Sasuke stiffened and his eyes shuttered close. "No, I don't need to talk to one, because I'm not crazy," he retorted clipped.

"I didn't say you're crazy, but – I think talking to someone might help you," Naruto said cautiously. "Just to get everything in perspective and make sort of peace with it, so that - "

"I don't need to put anything in perspective or make peace with anything," Sasuke snapped tersely and his hands balled into fists on his thighs.

"You think? You installed a camera at the door – and next to the kitchen window. Yeah, I know about that one," he said flatly when Sasuke blanched. "And that you tried to hide that particular one from me is already bad, but I'll be damned if I'm going to let you spy on me through other people. What you went through was horrible and I wish it never happened, but you're letting it control your life, _our life together_ , and that's not _healthy_. Not for you, not for me and definitely not for our baby."

Resting his hands around his stomach, he went on heatedly, "Our baby is going to be born in less than a couple of months and I don't want him to grow up thinking he has to be afraid of everything the whole time! That's not the way to live and I want you to understand that! I get that you're worried, I do, and I know I agreed to the camera at the door, but I didn't agree to one in the damn kitchen and I certainly didn't agree to having someone spying one me for the few hours you aren't here!"

Sasuke looked stricken. "Naruto, they're not spying on you, I would never - "

The Omega cut him off, waving his hand through the air and standing up. "I want you to talk to someone about the trauma you went through and try to give it a place, because this isn't healthy anymore. If you don't want to do it for yourself, then do it for me, _do it for your son_."

He knew the last one was a low blow, okay? He knew that, but he couldn't think of anything else that might make Sasuke realise he needed to seek out help. They couldn't keep going like this. He understood Alpha were more prone to worrying, growing more protective, when their mate was carrying, but Sasuke was worrying to an unhealthy degree now.

He didn't want to feel like he had to be under surveillance twenty-four seven. That wasn't fair to Sasuke, he acknowledged, but with their friends and family dropping by every week just because Sasuke couldn't stand the thought of Naruto being alone for a couple of hours at most … It definitely was starting to feel like he was put under surveillance.

He didn't blame Sasuke for it. He blamed the bastards who'd broken into his house and had killed his family and made Sasuke feel like he would lose the people he loved for a second time if he didn't do everything in his power to keep them safe.

This wasn't Sasuke's fault. Trauma like that never completely disappeared, no matter how many years went by.

At the same time, however, Sasuke couldn't let that one night rule the rest of his life. That wasn't healthy. That wasn't what his parents or his brother would have wanted for him, Naruto was sure. At this rate Sasuke was going to break down, make himself sick with worry, and he couldn't let that happen.

He also couldn't allow their baby to grow up, thinking he had to be afraid of everything in the world outside.

Something needed to change and that could only happen once Sasuke gave that night a place and forgave himself for not having been able to help. Naruto might not be a licensed psychologist, but you didn't need to be one to realise that Sasuke still carried a lot of guilt from that night. A part of him still believed he should have done something, that if he had at least tried to help, then maybe his family would still be alive today.

Nothing that had happened had been Sasuke's fault. Making him realise that, however, was a whole other matter.

Something needed to give, though. They just couldn't keep going like this.

"Where are you going?" Sasuke shot up, reaching out to grab Naruto's hand before he hesitated and dropped his hand to his side. His gaze briefly flickered towards the door, a bit anxious.

"I'm not leaving the apartment," Naruto said, a bit more abrupt than he would like, but he was feeling so drained all of a sudden and he just needed to lie down and rest. "I'm just tired, all right? I'm going to lie down in our bedroom; we can talk more later on."

He left Sasuke behind in the living room and went straight to their darkened bedroom. It had started softly raining somewhere between Sasuke arriving home and their, yeah, what had it been? A fight, an argument? He didn't know. A row maybe? He and Sasuke had never really had words with each other like this before. They'd argued in the past, sure, but never really to this extent.

Sasuke's protective tendencies had never been this bad in the past either.

He crawled into the bed and settled himself against the mountain of pillows which had been steadily growing over the past month. At eight months pregnant he had a hard time finding a comfortable position to fall asleep in, but he'd discovered that basically burying himself in a mountain of both sturdy and soft pillows did the trick for him.

Itachi was fussing around – well, as much as he still could with how cramped his space had become, and Naruto sighed, stroking his belly soothingly underneath his shirt. "I know your papa means well, but we need to draw the line somewhere," he murmured. "As much as I love your uncles and your grandmother, I don't want to see them like this."

Itachi pressed a tiny foot against his hand in response.

* * *

He had apparently fallen asleep because when he opened his eyes next, the sky outside was pitch black and the lamp on his nightstand was clicked on, spreading a gentle soft orange glow around.

Movement in the corner of his eyes attracted his attention and he turned his head, watching Sasuke sink down on the edge of the bed gingerly.

"Hey," Naruto murmured and rubbed over his eyes. "How late is it?"

"Almost a quarter to seven," Sasuke replied.

"Eugh, didn't mean to fall asleep," Naruto grimaced and sat up straighter, running his fingers through his hair to bring some order back into it. "Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it. You clearly needed it."

"Did you eat already?" Naruto eyed him carefully.

Sasuke's face was completely smoothed over, like they hadn't been having a rather heated argument just a few hours before. He didn't know whether that was a good thing or not.

The dark haired man shook his head. "No, I waited for you. Didn't see the point in making something for just myself." He shrugged.

"Well, to be honest I'm not really feeling up to doing some cooking now," Naruto admitted and rubbed his right side when Itachi kicked him harshly there. "You mind if we go for take-out tonight?"

"That's fine." Sasuke paused and Naruto waited in silence, wondering whether they were going to talk about their argument now.

It turned out they were. "I should have told you about the camera in the kitchen," Sasuke started haltingly, "and – I shouldn't have asked them to stay with you without talking to you about it first."

"No, you shouldn't have," Naruto agreed quietly and crossed his legs, linking his hands together underneath his belly. "You ready to tell me the real reason behind all this?"

"I … know that the chances of something happening are small," Sasuke said slowly, looking down at his own clasped hands. "But when I'm away from you, all I can think of are all the ways things can go wrong. You could land in an accident on your way home; you could slip and fall inside our apartment and might not be able to call for help; something could happen with our baby and help might not be quick enough; someone could try to break in and - " he broke off and shook his head, looking angry with himself.

"Look, I know it's ridiculous, okay? I know that it's not healthy, but," he looked up and looked at Naruto with pained eyes, "I'm scared to lose you. Both you and Itachi. I already lost my family once and barely got through that, I don't think I'll be able to survive a second loss. I can't go through that again."

"Sasuke." Naruto got up on his knees and shuffled closer to his mate, wrapping his arms around him and resting his head against a tense shoulder. "I understand why you did it. I get it, okay? I really do. What you went through – that was bound to leave marks behind. I just wished you would have told me about this instead of going behind my back. You asked my opinion about the camera at the front door, why not ask me about the one in the kitchen? Why not ask me whether I would mind having people come over to stay with me while you're in class? That's what really bugged me, you know, that you went behind my back about this. It honestly made me feel rather shitty," he admitted and sighed.

"I know you didn't really want the one at the front door," Sasuke muttered. "And I felt like I would be pushing it if I asked you whether you would mind one in the kitchen too."

"Why the kitchen, though?"

"Just in case someone tried to get into the apartment through the fire escape," Sasuke admitted chagrined. "I know it's stupid to think like that, you don't have to tell me. But it was all I could think of after that break in on our floor before."

"I wish you had told me instead of leaving me in the dark, but I don't want to keep arguing about it," Naruto mumbled and rubbed his forehead back and forth across the Alpha's shoulder. "Would it make it easier for you if I text you every hour to let you know I'm all right when I'm alone? I don't mind having friends over, but sometimes I just need to be able to unwind on my own, you know? Especially now, when it's not that long anymore before Itachi will be born."

He'd apparently been a right menace during his first six months on earth and he could only pray that his son hadn't inherited that particular trait of him. Taking care of a baby and completing his studies was already going to be a hell on its own without being completely sleep deprived.

"It'd help." Sasuke breathed out slowly before pressing a hand against Naruto's stomach. Itachi shifted inside him, pushing what felt like a tiny fist back against his papa's hand. "I thought about it and … You're right. I'm letting that night rule my life and I shouldn't. So I'm … I'm going to start visiting a psychologist."

Immediately Naruto straightened up and stared at him in shock. "You mean it? I know I said it, but you don't have to do it if you don't feel ready or just don't want to," he said hurriedly. "I don't want to force you into doing stuff you don't want to."

"I know you don't, but I need help." Sasuke rubbed his forehead. "I – that night fucked me up, but I don't want to let it affect our son. I want to be able to leave you on your own for a while without panicking about what might happen to you. I just – want to stop being so afraid the whole time."

"I'll help you look for a good one," Naruto promised and kissed him softly on his lips. "We'll work it out, I promise. I love you."

Sasuke wrapped his arms around him and rested their foreheads together, closing his eyes. "I love you too."

Naruto didn't remark on the tight hold the Alpha had around him. He just hugged him back and considered that this might be a fresh start for them. They would battle Sasuke's demons together. It would take a while before they would disappear, ingrained as they were inside the dark haired man, but Sasuke would win eventually.

He was sure of that.

Sasuke was a lot stronger than he thought he was, after all.

* * *

They found a psychologist three days later. They'd gone through an entire list online, checking their credentials and what people thought about them. Eventually Sasuke decided to make an appointment with a guy named Orochimaru, who was around the same age as Tsunade, and who seemed to be considered the top in his field.

Naruto hadn't expected Sasuke to be able to get an appointment immediately, given how in demand this guy appeared to be, but to his surprise Sasuke ended his call with the message that he could go see Orochimaru in four days' time.

He didn't know how the psychologist had found the time in his busy schedule to fit in Sasuke, but he wasn't going to complain about it. When the day of the appointment arrived, he accompanied Sasuke to Orochimaru's private office, but remained in the waiting room. He'd initially suggested he remained in the car, but Sasuke had adamantly refused and insisted he waited inside. Truthfully, the chairs here were a lot more comfortable than the car seat, so he occupied himself with reading the next chapter for his class tomorrow and annotated the important parts while he waited for Sasuke's appointment to be over.

An hour later he heard the door opening again and he looked up, spotting Sasuke in the doorway. He looked paler than usual and maybe it was a trick of the light, but his eyes seemed slightly red rimmed too, as if he'd either had rubbed too hard in them or had been crying for a bit.

Worry for the other man had Naruto rising up quickly – or as quickly as he could with the added weight on his front – and he hurried towards Sasuke, closing his book without marking the page.

"Are you okay? How did it go?" he asked in a low voice, mindful of the young woman still waiting in the room. She looked absorbed by her phone, but that didn't mean he wanted her to overhear them.

Sasuke grabbed his hand and tugged him along outside to the car. "It went fine, I suppose," he mumbled and his fingers tensed around Naruto's. "He never pushed me, let me talk about what I wanted …" He shrugged.

Naruto waited until they were both in the car before he turned to face Sasuke. "Do you think you'll continue your sessions with him?"

The Alpha was silent for a while, his hands resting around the steering wheel as he stared at something in front of him. "I think so. I – he might be able to help me," he finally replied, sounding a bit uncertain.

"All right." Naruto squeezed his thigh reassuringly and for the rest of the ride home, he kept his hand there.

He hoped Orochimaru would be able to help Sasuke deal with his demons from the past. Only time would tell, he supposed.

* * *

The end of October found them entering Tsunade's practice after a very rainy drive. Naruto was taken aback by the sight of a brown haired, demure looking woman standing right next to the blonde doctor. Her face was quite familiar and he wondered where he had seen her before.

"Hey brat, how are you feeling?" Tsunade greeted him with a warm smile.

"Like I'm going to topple over any moment. I can't even see my feet properly anymore," he admitted, but shut his mouth before he could add something along the lines of feeling like a bloated whale.

He'd made that error a week before and Sasuke had spent an entire evening reassuring him that he still found him as attractive as ever and that he didn't look like a bloated whale, but beautifully pregnant.

Naruto appreciated the reassurance, don't get him wrong, but it had also left him a bit embarrassed. He just couldn't help the way he felt. Whenever he looked in the mirror he only seemed to grow bigger – even though realistically he knew he didn't gain that much on a regular basis – and with his back aching and his occasional swollen feet, it was difficult at times to believe that Sasuke still found him attractive.

"Well, you still have more than a month of that, I'm afraid," she said brightly and gestured towards the woman still standing next to her. "Naruto, Sasuke, this is Shizune. She's a gynaecologist who has her practice a few blocks from your apartment."

 _Shizune_. Now he knew where he remembered her from! He'd seen her in Tsunade's practice years before, as the doctor's apprentice back then. He hadn't realised she had started her own practice, but it did make sense. It had been several years since she'd been an apprentice after all.

"Hello, Uzumaki-san, Uchiha-san, it's nice to meet you," she smiled and offered them a bow.

Sasuke inclined his head in response while Naruto grinned. "Nice to meet you, Shizune-san."

"You're probably wondering why she's here," Tsunade said and gestured for them to sit down.

"Er, a little bit, yeah," Naruto replied, rubbing his belly. Itachi was rather fussy and he couldn't wait until he was back at his parents' place and he could get Sasuke to calm the baby down. It felt like the little brat was intent on kicking and punching his organs into a mushy pile.

"Considering we're getting closer to your due date, we need to discuss arrangements," Tsunade said and linked her hands together on top of his file. Shizune sat down on a spare chair. "This is your first time giving birth, so we don't know yet how quickly you'll give birth. Some have very quick births that barely last an hour, while others are in labour for several hours."

"Please let me not be in that second group," he muttered underneath his breath.

"With that in mind and taking into account that babies don't always arrive on the expected due date, there is a chance you might not arrive here on time for me to assist you," she continued. "That's why I want to propose something. Instead of you making the drive here, you'll remain in the city and I'll come to you once your labour starts. In the meantime Shizune will be able to take care of you until I arrive, seeing as she's close to where you live. Would that be okay with you?"

"To be honest, it's not like we have much choice, do we?" Naruto said wryly and looked apologetically at Shizune. "No offence to you, sorry."

"I understand," she smiled. "I know that you'd rather have Tsunade-sama there from the start, but I can promise you that you'll be in good hands with me if you choose to accept my help."

Tsunade nodded approvingly. "She's been trained by me, so you know you can trust her skills," she said.

"So when are we supposed to call you then? When his contractions start or when his water breaks?" Sasuke questioned, his eyes darting from one woman to the other.

"You can call Shizune once your contractions start," Tsunade answered. "She'll examine you, check whether the labour process has actually started and it's not just your body practicing, and if so, she'll call me and I'll be with you as soon as I can."

"Well, I guess that's how we'll do it then," Naruto said, wrinkling his nose. He'd rather have Tsunade with him from the start, but he was also realistic enough to acknowledge that his baby might not wait until the actual due date to make his appearance and Tsunade wasn't a fifteen minute drive away.

At least he would be in the hands of someone trained by Tsunade herself, so he knew he could trust Shizune with himself and his son. If she wasn't good at her job, Tsunade would have never suggested her.

"Okay, here's my number and I guess I might see you in a month," Shizune smiled and said her goodbyes after handing over her business card; the door falling shut with a soft ' _click_ ' behind her.

"You can trust her, I promise," Tsunade said when Sasuke put the card in his wallet.

"I know, you recommended her," Naruto smiled and changed his position when his back started protesting.

"All right, now that we've got that out of the way, let's get to the actual reason of your appointment," she said briskly and brought her computer screen back to life. "Today I'm going to examine you to make sure your body has started preparing itself for the birth."

"Yay," the blond retorted listlessly, not looking forward at all to that particular examination. The thought of it alone felt way too invasive, even more than his normal check-ups, and he couldn't wait for that part to be over with.

"Have you felt any discomfort lately, anything out of the ordinary?" she questioned, typing something.

He rolled his shoulders. "Since a week or so, I sometimes get cramps down there." He gestured awkwardly between his legs and reddened. "They're not really that painful, but just annoying. They don't last long either."

She nodded. "Yes, that does sound like your body has started preparing itself. That's a good sign; it means everything is working as it should. Just to be sure, though, I'm going to examine you now. It won't take long, but it might be uncomfortable." She pointed at the screen in the left corner of the room. "You can change there. You can keep your sweater on, but you need to remove your jeans and your underwear. Then you can go lie down on the examination table and put your feet up in the stirrups."

"All right." Naruto stood up and pointed a finger at Sasuke, who raised an eyebrow. "You, no looking or peeking! This is already going to be embarrassing enough without you looking at me."

Sasuke started to argue, "There's nothing embarrassing about your body doing what it should, Naruto. I'm not going to - "

"No looking or peeking!" Naruto demanded, narrowing his eyes.

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke relented and raised his hands. "Fine, I'll stay here and I won't look."

"I'll know if you do," Naruto warned him and then went to change behind the screen, ignoring Tsunade's amused smirk.

The metal of the stirrups felt cold against his skin and he shivered, grimacing at the ceiling. He felt beyond uncomfortable now, lying half naked on the table, and it took everything in him not to close his legs and hide himself.

Tsunade was pulling on white gloves when she walked over towards him. She paused next to a cabinet and put a dollop of some clear gel on her fingertips, rubbing them together.

"Okay, this is what I'm going to do," she said softly when she halted next to the examination table. "At this stage in your pregnancy, your body should be developing your birthing canal which is right between your – "

"I know where it is, you don't have to say that aloud!" Naruto hurried, waving his hands wildly through the air.

At Tsunade's desk, Sasuke snorted and Naruto scowled, even though the Alpha couldn't see it because he was obediently looking away.

She rolled her eyes but mercifully continued, "At this point, it should already be half formed, so what I'm going to do now, is check just how much it has formed already. In order to do that I'll have to insert two fingers inside your birthing canal. I'm not going to lie: this is probably going to feel uncomfortable, but I need you to bear with me and try to relax as much as possible, okay?"

He nodded, pressing his lips tightly together.

"Do you need me with you?" Sasuke suggested calmly.

"No, stay there!" Naruto snapped, already feeling embarrassed enough without his mate standing next to him for this particular examination.

He knew it was nothing to be embarrassed of, just his body doing what it should be doing, but that didn't make any of this less awkward.

"All right, just relax. I'll be careful," she promised and rolled a chair between his legs.

When she bent down, he fixated his eyes on the ceiling and tried not to tense up when he felt a slippery finger touching him in a place that hadn't been there a month before. Two fingers slowly felt around and he squeezed his eyes shut and breathed out harshly when those two digits pressed inside of him. He felt too tight there and he barely resisted the urge to pull away from those invasive fingers.

 _Just a bit longer_ , he told himself, barely breathing as she carefully felt around, _just a bit longer and then this is done_.

It didn't really hurt, but she was right in that it felt hugely uncomfortable and his breath escaped him in a loud _whoosh_ when she finally pulled her fingers back and removed her gloves.

"All right, I know this wasn't your favourite thing to do, but you got through it," she smiled and disposed of the gloves in the bin. "Your birthing canal is forming like it should as well, so that's great news too. Should the cramps grow more painful all of a sudden, though, or you start feeling too unwell, let me know, okay? At this point, though, you have nothing to worry about."

"Thanks, that's reassuring," he said faintly. "Can I get dressed now?" He hated how whiny he sounded right now, but he just wanted to get dressed again and stop feeling so _naked_.

"Go on," she said amused and went back to her desk to put the information in his file.

She waited until he was dressed again and sitting in the chair before she mentioned almost offhandedly, "As your doctor, I have an obligation to tell you that with your birthing canal forming now, you have to be careful when you have sex."

At their blank faces, she elaborated, sounding almost gleeful, "Meaning that your partner here has to be careful where he sticks his dick, because if you think my fingers were uncomfortable now, being penetrated there while it's still forming is not going to be a walk in the park, let me tell you that."

"OH MY GOD, BAA-CHAN!"

* * *

"Sasuke, please do me a favour and come tell your son that he needs to calm down," Naruto grumbled annoyed. "He thinks he's going to be a future boxer."

"Just as active as his daddy," Mum teased him, dropping a bag of sour and cream crisps on dad's lap before plopping down next to him and burrowing underneath his arm.

"Yeah well, I can deal with less activity now," Naruto muttered and waved impatiently at Sasuke, who hovered in the doorway of the living room. "Come, I need your magical voice and touch, because your son doesn't want to calm down."

The corners around his eyes tightened and his smile was thin lipped, when Sasuke replied, "Sorry, Naruto, but I still have some work to do." And he disappeared upstairs.

That was odd. Blue eyes narrowed while his ears tracked his mate's journey towards his old bedroom. He knew Sasuke didn't have any work left to do – at least not anything that was very pressing at the moment. He'd been working his arse off these past couple of weeks so that he could take it easier once Naruto entered his last month. So what gives?

Normally Naruto only had to make a sound and Sasuke would be at his side, asking what he could do for him. Now he couldn't even tell his son to pipe down on the kicking?

He smelt bullshit.

Leaving his parents to watch the news, he made his way upstairs, determined to figure out why Sasuke was suddenly refusing a chance to talk to his son. This wasn't even the first time, he acknowledged as he ascended the stairs slowly. The last couple of times they'd been at his parents' place, Sasuke had been oddly reluctant to touch him as well.

The previous times he'd written it off as Sasuke being distracted by his university work, but he knew that couldn't be the case now. The alpha had barely taken any of his books with him. He hadn't looked that perturbed after his appointment with Orochimaru earlier this week, so that couldn't be it either.

"All right, mind telling me why you're suddenly refusing to calm down your son?" he demanded, closing the door behind him and crossing his arms.

Sasuke twitched, as if he'd been startled and turned around in the swivel chair. "I just have some work still left to do," he said soothingly. "I promise I'll help him calm down later tonight."

"Nope, not good enough. He's making a ruckus now, not tonight," Naruto snapped. He was still a bit high strung after his appointment earlier today and Itachi's strong kicks coupled with his aching back weren't doing wonders for his mood.

He stalked over towards the desk and caught a glimpse of the essay Sasuke was working on. "That essay isn't due for another three weeks and I know you've finished most of that last week. So mind telling me the real reason? Because you're not the one whose guts are currently being pulverised," he growled, glowering at him.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Sasuke muttered something too low for Naruto's ears to pick up.

"What was that?"

"I said that I don't want to make your dad uncomfortable," the Alpha repeated through gritted teeth, looking like he wanted to be anywhere but here now.

Naruto blinked, thrown off guard. "Why would you calming down Itachi be uncomfortable for – oh."

Like a lightbulb, the memory suddenly resurfaced in his mind. It had been a couple of weeks after Sasuke had first felt their baby kick and they'd been visiting Naruto's parents. Sasuke's hands hadn't strayed far from his belly during that visit and Minato had jokingly remarked that Sasuke's hands appeared to have been glued to his son and whether he needed some help removing his hands for a bit?

"Oh that. Dad was just joking," he said and rolled his eyes. "A stupid joke, I'll admit, but I promise he didn't mean anything else by that. So feel free to start working your magic any second now."

"You're sure he was just joking?" Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows. "He didn't look like it."

"You think my dad never touched my mum during her pregnancy? My grandma used to joke that she had to chisel away his hands if she wanted to feel me kick!" Naruto snorted and shook his head. "Trust me, my parents aren't bothered by it at all. If anything, they probably think it's cute. You don't want to know how many pictures there are of my parents when my mum was pregnant and my dad kept finding excuses to touch her."

"If you're sure," Sasuke said slowly.

"I'm sure." Naruto crawled on top of his bed and patted the mattress. "Now come on, get to work because I'd like to go one hour without having to rush to the toilet because your son thinks it's fun to push against my bladder."

Sasuke huffed in amusement, but obediently came over to join him on the bed. "You're so demanding," he sighed, but stole a kiss nonetheless.

"Please, like talking to your son is such a hardship for you," the blond retorted scathingly and grabbed Sasuke's hands, shoving them straight underneath his sweater.

Palming the rounded belly, Sasuke smiled. "No hardship for me at all, I can promise you that."

"Good, now come on, before he decides to go for my spleen next or so."

* * *

"No extension will be given, no matter the reason. Everyone has three hours to complete the exam and not a minute more."

Naruto gritted his teeth and his fingers tightened around his pencil when Mizuki's gaze seemed to linger on him extra long before he looked away. The man had delighted in subtly informing him with every test taken and every essay handed in that he shouldn't expect to be given extra time all because he'd decided to get knocked up.

Today was his final exam for this course and he couldn't wait to be done with it. Next semester he'd finally be free of that condescending arsehole. All he had to do was pass this exam, so he could prove to all those doubting dipshits that he was capable of getting good grades even when carrying a baby.

He bit down on his cheek when his stomach cramped violently and breathed out slowly to combat the sharp pain. He'd been having these cramps since he'd got up this morning. Irregular as they were, they still hurt like a bitch; he still had at least one week to go before his baby was due, though, so he didn't think these cramps were anything to really worry about.

They were goddamn annoying, yes, were quite a bit painful, true, but for now he would just concentrate on his exam and finish it as quickly as he could so he could get home and use a heating pad to combat the cramps. Hopefully it wouldn't keep snowing so that he could get home without any trouble. He liked the mood that seemed to cling to the month of December, with people gearing up for Christmas and the likes, but he could do without the slippery roads.

"All right, you may begin."

The rustle of papers being turned over was loud in the aula and for a while nothing else but the scratching of pencils on paper and the occasional gusty sigh could be heard. Mizuki and his assistant were slowly patrolling through the rows, making sure nobody was trying to cheat.

Naruto realised something was wrong when he was half an hour into the exam. The cramps were getting more frequent now; some of them painful enough that he was forced to stifle his gasps against his fist. A particular bad one ten minutes later had his eyes watering and he had to gulp in air, feeling like his breath had been slammed straight out of him.

Trying to control his breathing, he lowered his left hand to his stomach – and was shocked at how hard it felt. Shit, no way he could be …

No, it couldn't be, right? It was only the twelfth; he still had one week left before he was due. But then again, Tsunade had warned him that due dates were just an estimate and that babies didn't necessarily wait until that predicted date to come out …

Fuck. No wait, he couldn't start panicking now. He didn't know for sure yet. They could just be random cramps. He would just need to time them and if they were regular, well, then he was probably in deep shit. But they could still be random, so.

As he continued to the next page of his exam, he glanced at the clock occasionally to keep track of the time. Three very painful cramps and another thirty minutes later and he was sure of it: he was having contractions.

His baby was coming out today, no doubt about it.

His sight blurry with unshed tears, he flicked his eyes at Mizuki, who was currently prowling around at the other side of the aula. He needed to get out of here before the time between his contractions would grow shorter, but there was no way Mizuki was going to let him go before his exam was completed. That wasn't even an unfounded worry, he _knew_ the man wouldn't let him go. The guy had been more than clear when he had informed Naruto that any late essays or incomplete tests or exams would give him a fail for his class, no matter the reason.

Even if he would allow him to go, he'd most likely fail him even though giving birth should count as a pretty acceptable excuse to not be able to finish an exam.

Fuck this. He just had to finish his exam as quickly as possible and he would worry about a possible failed mark later on. As long as all the questions were answered, that bastard couldn't hold him here.

Grateful for the fact that the exam was mainly made up out of multiple choice questions with only the occasional one asking a short explanation, instead of asking answers in the form of two pages essays, Naruto made quick work of the remaining three pages. He did his best to breathe through the contractions, but some spots on the papers still got damp with tears he couldn't completely hold back.

By the time he selected the last answer, beyond caring by now whether it was the correct one, his hand was trembling and he had to wait until the next contraction passed before he could stand up. His legs felt like they had turned into jelly, but he forced himself to walk to the front of the aula where they were supposed to hand over their exams. He was actually the first one to finish and Mizuki's eyes narrowed when he halted in front of the desk.

"You're finished already?" he asked suspiciously.

"Yes, here. May I leave now?" Naruto inquired, offering his exam and locking his knees together so that he wouldn't accidently buckle through them. Sweat was coating the back of his neck and his back, his sweater sticking to him, and he desperately wanted to get out of here and find Sasuke so that they could drive to Shizune.

"You're sure you filled in every question?" Mizuki went on sceptically, not making any move to accept the papers.

"Yes, I'm sure," Naruto replied through gritted teeth and impatiently waved his papers.

"I do not like that tone, Uzumaki-san," Mizuki said coldly.

"Look, will you just accept my exam? I need to leave now!" Naruto couldn't help but snap.

"And what, pray tell, is so important that you have to leave now?"

"Because I'm having my baby now and I need to get to my doctor," Naruto retorted sharply and curled his hand around the edge of the desk when another contraction had his belly cramping violently. "J-just please, take my papers. I need to go now!"

From the corner of his eye, he saw someone slipping out of the aula, but he didn't pay much attention to them.

"And I'm just supposed to believe that you're having your kid now? Who says this isn't an excuse because you didn't study enough?" Mizuki regarded him haughtily and his upper lip curled up in a derisive sneer.

"Why the hell would I use that as an excuse?!" Naruto hissed, not caring any longer whether he was polite or not. He needed to leave now and he needed Mizuki to stop being such a fucking arsehole already!

One eyebrow raised, Mizuki sneered, "What do you expect me to think of someone who got himself pregnant at your age?"

"What I do in my private life is none of your business! I finished my exam, so here!" He slammed it down on the desk.

"I need to check whether you filled in everything," Mizuki said nonchalantly and started to slowly flip the pages.

Naruto was ready to scream, the other students be damned, when he suddenly felt something wet sliding down his legs and when he looked down, he saw a small puddle forming underneath him. "Oh fuck," he said faintly, and clutched his stomach.

"Language, Uzumaki-san. What do you - " Mizuki cut himself off and his eyes widened when his gaze fell down on the floor and spotted the small puddle as well. "What the hell is that?"

"His water broke, what else does it look like?" a red haired girl with glasses snapped at him and she rushed over to Naruto.

"Come on, let's get you out of here. Do you need me to warn someone?" she asked worriedly and shepherded him away from the dumbfounded professor, leading him out of the aula.

"Er, my mate, Sasuke, I need to tell him," Naruto fumbled with his pockets and then realised his bag was still inside. "Shit, I forgot my bag in the aula. My phone's in there."

"Don't worry about that; I'll get it for you. The orange one, right?" she flashed him a smile when he nodded in surprise. "All right, I'll be back in a sec. Wait here." She gently pushed him on a bench and then hurried back into the aula, where the other students were clearly making a ruckus.

At the same moment she came back out of the room, two people rushed towards him and Naruto could cry in relief when one of them turned out to be Sasuke. The other guy was a lanky one with white hair and purple eyes, who slowed down when he spotted the Omega sitting on the bench.

"Oh good, you managed to get away from that prick," he grinned, linking his hands behind his head.

"Are you okay? How long have you been having contractions?" Sasuke asked worriedly, skidding to a stop in front of the bench.

"I've been having cramps since this morning, but I didn't realise they were contractions until the middle of my exam," Naruto answered and couldn't help but whimper when another contraction waved over him.

"Naruto, you should have told me about the cramps," Sasuke said sharply, but let the Omega grab his hand and squeeze it tightly.

"I know, okay! But I just thought they were cramps, I'm sorry!" Tears dripped down his cheeks but he didn't know whether they were from the sharp pain or because he'd disappointed his Alpha and his stupid Omega was feeling too sensitive right now to deal with that.

"It's not your fault," Sasuke sighed, stretching out his fingers when the blond released his death grip.

"His water broke a few minutes ago, so you might want to get a move on," the girl said helpfully, handing over Naruto's bag to Sasuke.

"Jugo should be here with your car now," the white haired guy added and right on time, there was the sound of tires screeching as a car stopped abruptly in front of the building. "Oh look, there he is. Next time you're having a kid, I'm willing to drive that sweet ride of yours to the front."

"You're an idiot, Suigetsu," the girl huffed, slapping his head.

"Says the one retaking this course for the third time," he shot back and danced out of her reach when she took another enraged swipe at him.

"Okay, come on, we're going to the car," Sasuke said and helped Naruto get up. "Thanks for helping him," he said to the girl and she looked surprised before she smiled and blushed prettily.

"No problem, congratulations on your baby! I'm sure he or she will be very cute!" she beamed.

Despite Naruto's protest, Sasuke swiftly picked him up and carried him out of the building where a tall, broad shouldered guy with orange hair was waiting next to Sasuke's car. At the sight of them, he opened the door of the passenger's side.

"I threw your bag in the boot," he told Sasuke; his voice low and soothing. "Don't worry about the professor, I'll explain it to him."

"Thanks, Jugo." Sasuke offered him a quick nod and after carefully placing Naruto in the seat, the taller guy gave the car keys back to Sasuke.

He offered Naruto a reassuring smile and a wave and stepped back when Sasuke hurried to the other side of the car and slammed the door behind him shut. The tires squealed when Sasuke sped away and using his Bluetooth, he called Shizune's number.

"Good afternoon, Shizune speaking."

"Shizune-san, I'm Uchiha Sasuke and my mate, Naruto, is in labour. His water broke a few minutes ago," he explained tersely, rounding another corner.

"Bring him to my practice. You know the address?" At Sasuke's confirmation, she continued, "I'll call Tsunade-sama, don't worry about that. Just get here as quickly as you can, but be careful."

"How are you holding up?" Sasuke asked worriedly when the call ended and Naruto groaned in pain.

"Like I'm being carved open by a knife," he hissed and leant forward, breathing harshly. "I'm sorry about the seat; that's probably going to stain."

"Don't worry about that; it's just a seat. It can get cleaned. We'll be there soon," Sasuke promised. "Here, hold my hand."

Naruto immediately latched on to it, using it as his anchor when another contraction wrecked his body a little while later. He focused on keeping his breathing as regularly as possible, but he couldn't stop some tears from escaping when the pain seemed to grow even worse – a feat he hadn't thought possible. He was almost afraid to find out just how much worse the pain would get and he couldn't wait for all of this to be over. He didn't know when he could start pushing, but he hoped it wouldn't be too long anymore, because he wasn't sure whether he would be able to handle this kind of agonising pain for several hours.

Sasuke definitely broke a couple of traffic laws, but they arrived in one piece and without causing an accident. Shizune was already waiting outside for them with a wheelchair and she ushered Naruto into it.

"How much time is there between each contraction so far?" she asked briskly, pushing him through a long corridor with blue walls.

"Seven minutes," Sasuke answered clipped, following closely behind.

By now Naruto wasn't even surprised anymore that Sasuke had even kept track of that. That was just what Sasuke did: he paid attention to everything his mate did.

"Change into these and lie down. I'll check how much dilation you have," Shizune said and handed over a hospital dress, before going over to a cabinet.

Sasuke had to help him out of his clothes because his hands seemed to have lost their coordination and once he'd changed into the paper dress, he had to wait for another contraction to pass before he could climb up on the bed with Sasuke's help.

"You have six centimetres dilation," Shizune announced a moment later, nodding to herself. She had attached some wires to his stomach and whatever she read on the screen attached to the wires, seemed to please her. "You're making good progress."

"Will Tsunade be here on time?" Naruto asked, a tad breathless.

"She should be," she reassured him. "I called her as soon as you warned me you were on your way, so she should be here in less than half an hour. For now just try to relax and breathe through the pain, okay? I'll be back in a bit."

"Try to relax, she says," Naruto hissed, sitting up and rubbing over his stomach. "Like that's so easy!"

"Think of our baby, okay?" Sasuke murmured and sat down next to him, nuzzling his temple. "Just a bit longer and then we'll be able to hold him in our arms."

"Yeah, I guess," Naruto muttered and swallowed.

_Just a bit longer and then they would finally hold their son in their arms._

* * *

"Are my parents on their way yet?" Naruto asked and groaned when another contraction swept through him. He squeezed Sasuke's hand tightly when he started pushing again, feeling like his skin was on fire and like he would rip in two any second now.

"Yes, they are. I got the text a minute ago," Sasuke said soothingly, rubbing his back. "They'll be here in an hour."

"All right, take a deep breath, Naruto, you're almost there," Tsunade instructed. "Just keep breathing and push!"

"What the fuck do you think I'm doing, you old hag!" Naruto yelled but started pushing again with all his strength. "FUCK, THIS FUCKING HURTS LIKE HELL! WHY THE FUCK DID YOU HAVE TO HAVE SUPER SPERM?! DID YOU HAVE TO KNOCK ME UP FROM THE FIRST TRY, YOU BASTARD!"

"I'm sorry," Sasuke said, apologising for the nth time this past hour. "You're doing amazing, just a bit longer."

"THAT'S WHAT YOU SAID HALF AN HOUR AGO!"

"I see his head!" Tsunade suddenly announced and both their heads whipped around to her. "Just a few more big pushes and he'll be here. Only a couple of big pushes more, you can do this, Naruto!"

"God, never again," Naruto moaned, but obediently started pushing again, his whole body screaming in protest even as he felt his baby dropping lower and lower.

"That's what they all say," she said in a sing-song voice. "Wait until you have this little tyke in your arms. You'll forget all about the pain and you'll be begging Mister Handsome here for another kid soon."

"Like. Hell. I. Will!" He took another deep breath and bore down, probably grinding Sasuke's bones together with how tight his grip had become on his hand.

The Alpha didn't complain, though, just kept pressing kisses against his sweaty temple, kept rubbing his back, and murmuring soothing encouragement until –

With one final scream, Naruto pushed with all the remaining strength he had left and felt his baby sliding out of him. A couple of seconds later the room was filled with a sound he had never thought he would love hearing: his baby's first cry.

"Look at that, a healthy baby boy!" Tsunade beamed, holding up the squirming, wailing baby whose face was scrunched up and quite red. He was still messy with all kinds of fluids plastered against his small, chubby body, but Naruto fell in love the second his eyes fell on him. Because even dirty and wailing and with a scrunched up face, his baby was the most beautiful baby he'd ever seen.

_That was his baby son right there._

"Does papa want to cut the umbilical cord?" Tsunade smiled and Sasuke almost stumbled when he hurried off the bed, his dark eyes wide and his hand trembling when she directed him where to cut.

She briefly handed him over to Shizune so she could clean him and give him a check-up, while Tsunade coaxed him through delivering the afterbirth as well. Afterwards she brought their baby to them, already wrapped up in a soft, blue blanket.

"Here's your beautiful baby boy. You did a great job, daddy," she said softly and placed him on Naruto's chest.

Naruto's vision immediately grew blurry when he looked down and took in how his baby looked like. "He's here," he whispered in awe, carefully brushing his son's cheek. "He's finally here. Look at him. Look at what we made together."

An arm slipped around his shoulders and when he glanced up, Sasuke was looking down with the most tender smile the blond had ever witnessed. "He's perfect," he murmured and kissed Naruto; a surprisingly deep, but tender kiss. "You did an amazing job."

"We did, didn't we?" Naruto agreed, beaming, and looked down again, cradling the precious bundle closer to his chest.

Itachi definitely had his papa's dark hair, the small tuft peeking out from underneath the blanket. When he opened his eyes and blinked slowly, they were greeted by a pair of dark blue eyes.

"He's absolutely perfect," Sasuke said and sounded a bit choked.

Naruto looked up and started when he saw tears sliding down pale cheeks. Carefully he stretched out his hand and cupped Sasuke's jaw. "Hey, don't cry. You're going to make me cry and I already did enough of that today," he smiled watery.

"Can't help it," Sasuke said gruffly, resting his hand over Naruto's and squeezing it softly. "I'm just so happy right now. You're giving me a family, Naruto. _You're giving me a family again_." He grabbed Naruto's chin and tilted his head up to give him another deep kiss, overwhelming the Omega with the amount of love he could feel in it. "I love you so much, you have no idea how much I love you," he swore, his eyes glittering brightly when he pulled back slightly.

Naruto smiled, blinking away tears. "I think I might have an idea how much you love me if it's as much as I love you," he said, sniffling.

The agonising pain already nothing but a faint memory in the back of his mind, he bent down and kissed Itachi's forehead softly. "Welcome to our family, Itachi."

All those months of aches, swollen feet and feeling like a whale had definitely been worth it to have this precious baby, _his son_ , in his arms.

_He was finally here._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN2: And after six parts we can finally wrap up "Expanding"! Next chapter will be called "Adjusting" :)
> 
> Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me. I hope to see you all back in the next chapter!
> 
> Cuddles
> 
> Melissa


	17. Adjusting Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: So again a bit later than I wanted to, but at least I still managed to finish this part before the week is over, which is quite a feat considering I had to write the majority of the chapter today. Which is also the reason why this particular part will have at least a couple of parts *throws hands up* Because what else is new in this story, huh? *rolls eyes*
> 
> Thank you so much for the comments and the kudos! I can't believe we're this close to 1400 kudos already! :O
> 
> Warnings: Hm, fluff I guess? A bit of biology mentioned; breastfeeding but not overly detailed
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
> 
> I hope you'll like it!

_17 Adjusting Part 1_

"Ah damn, I told you we should have driven quicker!"

Mum's annoyed voice had him looking up and he grinned when he saw his parents entering the room. Sasuke looked up from his seat in the chair next to the bed, where he'd been cradling Itachi for the past half hour, and offered a small smile. After Naruto had fed their son, he'd handed Itachi over to Sasuke, figuring it was his turn to bond with their baby.

"We were already hitting the speed limit," Dad replied dryly. "I didn't fancy getting pulled over by our colleagues."

"We had a good reason!" she protested and waved wildly at the sleeping baby.

"Hey, mum, dad, ready to meet your grandson?" Naruto grinned, interrupting them before they could continue the argument.

"Of course we are!" she beamed and strode over to Sasuke. She cooed softly, her eyes shining, when she took her first good look at her grandson. "He looks so cute; may I hold him?"

For a couple of seconds it looked like Sasuke wouldn't hand over Itachi, his hold even tightening slightly, but then he inclined his head and stood up to carefully place Itachi in his grandmother's arms.

"Aw, look at you, so handsome," Mum awed, cradling him gently against her chest. "Come look at him, Minato, he's so perfect!"

Dad went to her and Naruto could practically see the exact moment it hit the older blond that he'd become a grandfather now. His eyes misted over and his hand was shaking a tad when he reached out to brush Itachi's cheek.

"He's perfect, indeed," he agreed thickly and sniffled.

That earnt him a light slap against his arm from mum, who wrinkled her nose and seemed to do her best not to start crying. "Eugh, don't do that. I promised myself I wouldn't cry when I hold my first grandchild for the first time."

"When did you promise that?" Dad furrowed his eyebrows; his eyes briefly flicking up to his wife before they gazed back at his grandson.

"When our son was born and my mother couldn't stop crying for a whole day," she sniffed, placing a soft kiss on Itachi's forehead.

"Oh yeah, we went through a lot of handkerchiefs back then," Dad remembered blankly and paused, watching his wife's face. He chuckled and retrieved a handkerchief from his pocket. "You want one?"

She glared at him before her sniffling became louder and then she started crying in earnest; Sasuke quickly shooting forwards to take Itachi back in his arms. As soon as her arms were empty, she threw them around dad's neck and started sobbing in his neck, while he patted her back and uttered soothing noises.

"There, there."

"I can't believe I'm a grandma now!"

Naruto watched his parents somewhat bemused and then remembered something. "Hey, did you call Kakashi yet?" he questioned curiously, pushing the pillow behind him in a better position before he laid down again.

He had only been thinking about letting his parents know when his water had broken, but hadn't thought about alerting Kakashi. Well, he'd actually assumed that Sasuke would have called him, just because he'd mentioned he would alert Naruto's parents. Kakashi didn't live that far from his parents' home, so how come he wasn't here yet? Did he get held up in traffic somehow?

Sasuke sat back down in his chair, cradling Itachi carefully against his chest. "No, I didn't."

His voice was so calm, Naruto was already nodding before he realised what Sasuke had actually said. "Wait, why not?" he asked perplexed. "Sasuke, you should have called him!"

"No, I shouldn't." Sasuke looked up to scowl at him, even as he kept stroking Itachi's cheek tenderly. "Why on earth would I call him?"

"God, not this again," Naruto moaned and dropped his head back, rubbing his hands over his face. Voice muffled, he added, "We talked about this, Sasuke. He has the right to know. You can't just keep this news from him!"

"Yes, I can. Watch me," Sasuke retorted flatly. "You're mad if you really think I'm going to let him be around Itachi. It's not up for discussion."

Blue eyes rolled and Naruto shook his head with a sigh. Turning his attention back to his parents where mum was just starting to calm down a bit, he figured he'd breach the subject again later, once Sasuke was feeling a little less on edge.

He'd heard before that Alpha would be very protective right after the birth, but really, Sasuke was being a tad stupid now. Kakashi would know better than to misbehave around Itachi. If he didn't, well, Naruto would have no trouble setting him straight about _that_.

* * *

' _Congrats, man! We'll be over as soon as we can!'_

Smiling, Naruto connected his phone to the charger and placed it on the counter. He'd texted Kiba and Shikamaru once he'd settled into their apartment again, letting them know he'd given birth and was home again.

Tsunade had examined him a few hours ago and declared him healthy enough to return home if that was what he wanted. He would see her back in six weeks for his next check-up. As soon as she had given him the green light, he'd taken a quick shower and changed into the clothes dad had been kind enough to go pick up for him. He had prepared a bag a week ago when he'd still been under the assumption that he wouldn't go into labour before his actual due date, but naturally he hadn't thought of stuffing it into Sasuke's car yet. Fortunately dad had offered to pick up the bag so that his son could have a fresh change of clothes.

Sasuke had wondered whether it wouldn't be safer for him to stay the night, just in case, but Naruto felt fine – if still rather sore between his legs, but that couldn't be helped – and he preferred sleeping in his own bed as opposed to trying to find a decent spot in the bed at Shizune's practice.

The Alpha's instinctive urge to have his mate and child safely in their home had eventually overridden Sasuke's worry about going home the same day, which Naruto was glad about, because there was no way in hell he would have stayed the night there.

"Someone texted back?" Sasuke's low voice drifted over to him and he turned around, smile widening a notch.

"Yeah, Kiba said he and Shikamaru will visit as soon as they can," he replied. "Is Itachi sleeping?"

"Yeah, out like a light for now at least," Sasuke confirmed, reaching out with his hand, wordlessly asking the blond to come closer.

Naruto obeyed silently and the corners of dark eyes wrinkled almost minuscule when a faint smile darted across his lips quickly like a little fish; long, slender fingers curling around the Omega's wrist. "I put the crib at the end of our bed, so that we won't have to go that far when he wakes up."

"Good idea," Naruto murmured and after flicking off the light in the kitchen, leaving only some kitchen appliances dimly glowing, he followed after Sasuke.

While Sasuke stepped into the adjoining bathroom, Naruto halted in front of the crib which his mate had put together with quite some swearing last month. He'd refused Naruto's help with it, stating he could do it on his own. Sasuke trying to put together a crib, all the while muttering darkly and letting out the occasional swear had been quite the amusing sight.

Looking down, he automatically smiled at the sight of his baby sleeping peacefully with his tiny hands balled into fists. He was dressed in a pure white onesie and his mouth was pursed into a little pout; his dark tuft of hair standing out starkly against the white blanket.

Overwhelmed by love all of a sudden, he braced himself against the crib and leant down, kissing Itachi's forehead, breathing in his soft baby scent. He took care to keep the kiss light enough in order not to wake him up. No doubt Itachi would wake them up in the course of the night to get either fed or have his diaper changed, but for now he was asleep and Naruto didn't want to disturb him.

Not when he laid there so angelically, so sweet, _so perfect_.

He was still gazing down at Itachi when arms slipped around his waist and a chin came to rest on his shoulder. "How are you feeling?" Sasuke murmured; his breath tinged with the mint scent of his toothpaste.

"A bit sore and tired," Naruto admitted, knowing there was no point in trying to hide that. "But I'm happy. I'm glad he's finally here. I mean, I did carry him around for so many months, but seeing him in his crib … It makes it all more real, you know?"

Sasuke nodded, kissing his neck. "I know, I feel the same way. You don't have any exams left, right?"

"No, today was my last one," Naruto replied and relaxed, leaning back against Sasuke. He was incredibly glad for that.

While overall his professors had been rather understanding – bar Mizuki of course – it was one thing to change his classes to online ones now that he'd given birth and a whole other thing to find a way to reschedule an exam. Fortunately he wouldn't have to worry about that now. He only had around two weeks left of online classes and then the Christmas break would be upon them. He wasn't sure how much of a fussy baby Itachi would be, but he thought he would very much appreciate the two weeks without any classes.

"I'm going to send my professors an e-mail tomorrow," he decided. No point in doing that now when it was already so late. "You've got one more exam left, huh?"

"Yeah, in two days," Sasuke answered and stepped back, his hands coming up to rest on Naruto's upper arms. "Come, let's go to bed. Who knows when Itachi will wake up; might as well catch as much sleep as we can."

"True."

They broke apart to get into the bed and after turning off the bedside lamp, the room was blanketed in darkness. The sheets rustled when they turned around and Naruto ended up cuddled against Sasuke's right side, with his head on the Alpha's shoulder and Sasuke's arm wrapped around his back.

The exhausting day finally caught up to him completely and his eyelids became heavy, sleep beckoning him. Sasuke felt wonderfully warm and he pressed his nose into his shirt for a moment, inhaling his familiar spicy scent; his body relaxing now that he was in his bed with his mate.

Lips kissing his forehead had him blinking sleepily and he smiled when Sasuke whispered, "I love you."

"I love you too," he muttered and then was out like a light, no longer able to fight against his exhaustion.

* * *

His head felt fuzzy when he woke up next and for a moment he wondered whether it was morning already. Blinking, he took note of the fact that the bedside lamp was on before a shadow was thrown over him and he yawned.

"Sasuke? It's time already?" he muttered tiredly and struggled to sit up.

"Not exactly," Sasuke answered and there was a note of amusement in his voice. "It's only half past twelve, but Itachi needs to eat."

At the mention of their baby, the last cobwebs of sleep instantly dissolved and he sat up abruptly, only now noticing that Sasuke was cradling Itachi in his arms. "I didn't hear him cry," he said alarmed and quickly undid the first buttons of his shirt. Shit, what kind of a dad was he if he didn't even wake up when his baby cried? He should have been able to hear him cry, shouldn't he?

"That's because he didn't," Sasuke said before the blond could spiral down in self-doubt. "I got him before he could start doing more than fuss a bit. I think he'll start crying any second now, though."

Indeed Itachi was starting to look red in his face, unhappy noises leaving him. Hastily pushing his shirt out of the way, Naruto took the baby over from Sasuke and placed him against his chest. Right when he was about to coax Itachi to his nipple, the little boy turned his head and immediately latched onto, sucking hungrily while he rested a small hand against his daddy's skin.

Aware of dark eyes resting on him, Naruto gingerly propped himself up against the pillows while Itachi kept on drinking eagerly. He still wasn't completely used to breastfeeding Itachi, even though he'd done it a couple of times now already. It felt a bit … odd he guessed was the right way to describe it. Odd to realise that he was still able to feed his baby with his own body, despite the fact that Itachi was no longer inside of him.

At the same time, watching his baby eat settled something in him as well. It was odd, but nice.

Keeping his voice low, he asked, "How come you were up if he wasn't crying yet? I didn't hear anything."

"I had to go to the bathroom," Sasuke replied and shrugged, though his gaze was still intent as he looked at them.

Naruto would have thought he was perturbed by the fact that he saw him breastfeeding their child – even though it was something everyone could do if they had carried a baby – but there was no disgust in those black eyes, only … Well, he wasn't sure what it was he saw, but he instinctively knew it wasn't anything bad.

"When I came back, he was just waking up and starting to fuss. I checked his diaper first, but he kept up the fussing so I figured he would want to eat," Sasuke went on and nodded at Itachi. "Seems my guess was right. I'm going to get a towel."

Naruto nodded and crossed his legs, his thumb stroking slow circles over Itachi's small shoulder. He hid another yawn and looked up when the bed dipped down again; Sasuke holding up a small towel he'd retrieved from the bathroom.

"You want to burp him or should I do it?" he questioned. Before Naruto could answer, though, he shook his head slightly and said, "I'll do it."

"Not that I complain, but I can do it as well," Naruto pointed out.

"Yeah, but I already got up a couple of times, so it's easier for me to put him back into his crib and throw the towel away," Sasuke answered lightly. "You can go back to sleep then."

"You need sleep too," Naruto remarked, but was too tired to keep arguing about it. He didn't even know why they should keep arguing about this; if Sasuke wanted to get milk thrown up on him, by all means.

After a couple more minutes Itachi decided he had enough and turned away. Naruto handed him over to Sasuke, who had already thrown the towel over his left shoulder, and while the blond buttoned up his shirt again, Sasuke started patting Itachi's back, murmuring encouragingly to him until Itachi hiccupped and spit on the towel.

Ignoring the soiled towel, Sasuke stood up and rocked Itachi back to sleep; his voice low and soothing while he slowly walked back and forth behind the bed. All the while Naruto looked at him and couldn't suppress a smile. Watching Sasuke handle Itachi so confidently, one would never guess that this was the first day he held a baby in his arms. He looked like he'd been taking care of babies his whole life and warmth filled Naruto's chest, spreading out to the pit of his belly.

_God, Sasuke was just perfect._

He was still grinning like a loon when Sasuke got back into bed after putting Itachi back into his blue white crib and a black eyebrow rose up. "What are you so happy about?" the dark haired man asked bemused.

Naruto couldn't help himself and darted forwards to peck him on his lips. "Nothing, just that you're amazing," he replied and gripped Sasuke's wrists before lacing their fingers together. "You're great at this."

"Itachi was only born a couple of hours ago," Sasuke commented, looking both amused and taken aback. "You can't exactly claim I'm ' _great_ ' at this when he's not even a day old yet."

Naruto squeezed his fingers and scowled at him. "Yes, I can. You're a great papa; Itachi won't have a better one than you, I'm sure."

"You're sleep deprived," Sasuke said amused and kissed him before he could open his mouth in protest. "But fine, thank you. You're a great daddy too."

A bit offended that Sasuke was basically blaming his lack of sleep as the reason for the compliment, Naruto glowered at him – an action that got ruined when he yawned loudly.

"Go back to sleep, Naruto," Sasuke said and pushed him down, gathering him in his arms after turning off the bedside lamp.

"Fine," Naruto pouted, wriggling his knee between Sasuke's legs. Yawning again, he slung his arm around Sasuke's waist and muttered, already half-asleep again, "Just so you know, though, I mean it. And I can't wait to have more babies with you."

Sasuke trembled underneath him and Naruto thought he said something, but he didn't really hear it and sleep dragged him down once more.

* * *

"I'm surprised he left you on your own," Kiba remarked, casting a suspicious glance around the living room as if he was suspecting Sasuke to jump up from behind a couch.

Naruto snorted, adjusting his hold on Itachi. "Only because he wanted to stock up on diapers and a couple of other things." _And then only because he knew you'd be here_ , he added silently, but saw no need to say that aloud.

Sasuke's sessions with Orochimaru were going quite well, but it would probably take some time for his overprotectiveness – heightened even more with the birth of their baby – to dissipate a bit. He was already making progress in the sense that he only activated the camera in the kitchen when they were out of the apartment or at night.

"How are you feeling now?" Shikamaru asked; his eyebrows drawn together in concern.

It was three days after Itachi was born and his two friends had finally found a moment to visit him and meet the baby. Both their exams were over now, although Shikamaru still had a paper to deliver tomorrow.

"Mostly tired," Naruto admitted wryly. "Itachi's not that fussy yet, but I still have to wake up several times in the night to feed him or change his diaper."

He had insisted on taking turns in changing Itachi's diapers, so that both of them had an equal share in doing that particular dirty job. He loved his son very much, he really did, but god, his diapers were _disgusting_.

His parents asked for regular updates as well, even if it was just in the form of texts or a picture. If it had been entirely up to them, Naruto was certain they would have offered to stay over at their apartment to help take care of Itachi, but their work didn't exactly allow them to do that. They'd gone home after Naruto had settled back into his apartment, but were quite eager to hear from him every day. Naruto was pretty sure they had already showed everyone at the precinct a picture of their grandson.

"Eugh, diapers," Kiba grimaced and shivered. "No offence, but I'm glad I don't have to do that. Cleaning out the kennels at home is already bad enough."

"You're going to let Hinata do that dirty job then when you two have kids?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

While Kiba spluttered that he and Hinata were totally not ready yet to have children – "Neji will cut off my balls, dude!" – knocking on the door attracted Naruto's attention.

Shifting Itachi closer to his chest, he stood up, curious as to who could be waiting in the corridor. It couldn't be Sasuke, considering he had a key. Leaving his two friends to their bickering – well, more like Kiba was bickering, while Shikamaru just sat there, listening disinterested – he went to the door and opened it. To his great surprise both Gaara and Temari were waiting in the corridor. Temari had a plastic bag in her hands while Gaara carried a silver and green present.

"Hey, Naruto, you look good for someone who just had a baby," Temari grinned; her eyes glittering when her gaze drifted down to Itachi. She couldn't see much yet, because he had turned his face to Naruto's chest.

"Temari-san," he said startled and blinked. "I didn't expect to see you here. Hey, Gaara."

She shrugged. "I can't not come visit you; I want to see how your baby looks like! Bet he's a cutie, given who his parents are."

"Ignore her," Gaara droned. "She's had a bit too much coffee on the way here."

"Oh shut up," she huffed and slipped into the apartment before Naruto could gesture them inside.

"Right, make yourself at home," Naruto said dryly, but she was already walking to the living room after kicking off her heels.

"Sorry, Naruto, but she insisted on joining me," Gaara apologised, entering the apartment when the blond waved him inside. "I kicked her out of the car three times, but she just kept climbing back in."

"Ah, don't worry about it," Naruto chuckled, shushing Itachi when he started making fussy noises. He checked the diaper just to be sure – although he'd only changed it half an hour ago – but Itachi was probably just a tad overwhelmed with all the people inside the apartment now.

"Who's the present for?" he asked curiously after Gaara had pulled off his shoes.

Green eyes looked at the package blankly before they blinked at the Omega. "For the baby."

"That's sweet, you didn't have to do that," Naruto grinned, wondering what the other man could have bought for Itachi.

He shrugged, looking a bit awkward. "It's nothing special," he said gruffly. "Just thought I couldn't visit you emptyhanded."

"Well, come on; let's go to the living room. My friends are here as well." He led the Alpha to the room, even though he'd been here once before and probably still remembered the layout of the place.

Temari was already seated next to Shikamaru and looked up when the two men entered. "Good, let me take a look at the little pipsqueak," she grinned, holding out her arms.

"Careful with his head," Naruto cautioned, but placed Itachi in her arms nonetheless, knowing he could trust her not to drop him.

She immediately started cooing, which was admittedly a tad weird, considering that he knew her as a woman who didn't take any shit and was more likely to kick your arse and lay you out than to start simpering at you. He guessed babies had this kind of effect on even the most hardened person, though.

"Kiba, Shikamaru, this is Gaara," he introduced them. "And this is Temari, in case she was rude enough not to introduce herself."

Not even looking up from Itachi, she sniffed. "Please, of course I introduced myself. I'm not a caveman like Kankuro."

"Is he keeping the dojo open now?" Naruto questioned and sat down on the smaller couch.

After a pause Gaara sat down next to him, exchanging a nod with Naruto's friends. "Yeah, we can't shut down the place for a whole day, so he's there now. Here." He dumped the present in Naruto's lap.

The present turned out to be a dark brown teddy bear with a black belt around his thick waist and Naruto chuckled, tugging at the rounded ears. "A bear excelling in karate, huh?"

Gaara rolled his shoulders and sounded a bit bashful when he replied, "I thought it was a nice change from the regular teddy bears they usually give to children."

"True, it's very nice," Naruto agreed with a grin and waggled the bear over Itachi, whose dark blue eyes stared up at it in wonder. "Look what Gaara-jisan got for you!"

Temari snorted when Gaara made an odd, choking noise and after putting the bear on the table, he took Itachi back from her. "You want to hold him, Gaara?"

"I don't know," Gaara said slowly, eyeing Itachi as if he was a ticking time bomb.

"Come on, Gaara, surely you can handle a baby," Temari goaded him, smirking.

"Yeah, even Kiba managed not to mess up holding him," Shikamaru commented, not even flinching when he got a punch in his arm for that.

Gaara glared at his sister, but then stuck out his arms, though Naruto could see the apprehension in his eyes growing when he placed Itachi in his arms.

"Just keep your hand like this, yes like that, and your other arm like this and that's it. Now you're holding him," Naruto told him grinning; his amusement growing as he watched Gaara awkwardly hold Itachi in his arms. It was obvious the red haired man didn't have much experience with holding babies.

"He looks like Sasuke a lot," Gaara commented after studying the baby boy intently.

"Yep, he's already got the deadpan stare down and everything," Naruto snickered, letting Itachi wrap his tiny fingers around his pinkie.

"He's going to be a heartbreaker for sure," Temari smirked before her attention turned swiftly onto an unsuspecting Shikamaru. "Talking about heartbreakers – you've got a partner or are you too busy with your classes? What are you studying actually?"

"Er," Shikamaru blinked, clearly taken off guard.

That didn't happen often and Naruto quirked an eyebrow, wondering where Temari's interest suddenly came from. In all the time he'd known her, she'd never gone out of her way to chat with people. Hell, it had taken him months before he even got a greeting from her.

"I'm studying engineering," Shikamaru answered after getting his bearings again.

"Ooooh, smart guy, huh?" She whistled softly and crossed her legs; her skirt inching up a bit, revealing more of her thighs. "What made you decide to go for that?"

Bending closely to Gaara, Naruto murmured, "Is it just me or is your sister interested in my friend?"

"She might be," Gaara answered pensively. "God help your friend if she is."

Judging by the way Shikamaru sometimes flicked his gaze at her legs before he quickly looked back up again, Naruto wasn't so sure whether he would really mind if the blonde was interested in him.

* * *

The sound of a key unlocking the door had Naruto stepping into the corridor after he'd put Itachi to sleep in his crib. His friends and Temari were still here, eating snacks while chatting with each other. Or well, Kiba, Temari and Shikamaru chatted while Gaara only interjected once or twice.

"I'm back," Sasuke said, closing the door behind him. The two plastic bags around his wrist crinkled when he bent down to remove his shoes. "We got more visitors?"

"Yeah, Gaara and Temari showed up," Naruto replied and went over to take the bags. "They wanted to meet Itachi. Gaara even had a teddy bear for him."

"That's nice of him," Sasuke muttered and they shared a quick kiss. "I got more pads for you. There should be enough in the bag to last you a couple of weeks, but I can pick up more if you run out."

Naruto flushed a bit at the reminder of what he had to wear for a while now that he'd given birth. The pads were akin to the slick pads, although these were designed to absorb the blood that his body was expelling. He could expect around two to three weeks of bleeding, Tsunade had warned him, so he needed to have enough pads to deal with it.

He'd felt rather embarrassed about it, even though it was a natural reaction of his body after going through labour, but Sasuke had remained entirely unruffled about it, even offering to buy more for him on his trip to the store. Considering that this was the same guy who carried around slick pads just in case Naruto needed one, he really shouldn't be surprised that Sasuke would remain unbothered by this as well.

"Thanks," he smiled; red still stinging his cheeks.

"No problem." Sasuke quickly brushed the back of his hand against Naruto's cheek. "Where's Itachi?"

"Asleep in his crib," Naruto replied and followed him into the kitchen to put away the rest of the groceries. "Also, Temari might or might not be interested in Shikamaru. The jury's still out on that one."

_That_ made Sasuke look up perplexed. "Wait, what the hell did I miss? I was only gone for a little while!"

Naruto snickered and went to put away the milk. "See what you miss when you're gone?"

* * *

Two days before their Christmas break, Deidara showed up.

Naruto had just finished his last assignment and had sent it through when the knock on the door alerted him that they had a visitor. He went to open it, leaving Sasuke to his studying in the kitchen.

Deidara grinned once the door swung open. "Hey, Naruto, am I disturbing you?"

"Nah, I just finished my work." Naruto waved the older Omega inside. "Sasuke's still studying, though."

"I can come back later," Deidara offered, tilting his head to the left a bit.

"It's okay, we can go sit in the living room. I think he's nearly done anyway." He turned around and walked back to the living room. "How's work going? How's Sasori-san?"

"The students are a menace like always, un," Deidara sighed, dropping down on the couch with a groan. "Teaching in the weeks close to a holiday is just a nightmare."

Naruto chuckled. "Noted."

"But with Sasori, everything's great," Deidara beamed, clasping his hands together. "He's taking me abroad for a week in two weeks to celebrate the holidays."

"Oh very nice. Any idea where he's taking you?"

Deidara wrinkled his nose. "No, he won't tell me," he pouted. "Said he was keeping that as a surprise."

"Well, at least you know you're going to another country," Naruto said and pricked his ears when he heard soft noises coming from the bedroom. "Oh give me a sec, Itachi's awake I think."

He hurried to the bedroom before Itachi could start wailing. So far he'd proven to be a rather calm baby, but when he opened his mouth … Man, his kid had quite the set of lungs in him.

"Hey there, sweetie," he murmured, picking him up. "No messy diaper?" He felt at Itachi's bottom, but the diaper felt still dry, which yes! No changing diapers at least for now!

"You're hungry?" But no, Itachi wasn't making those noises he usually made when he was hungry. After almost two weeks Naruto had started discerning the various noises and their meanings quite well already. It was still trial and error at times, but he thought he was doing pretty damn well so far, given that Itachi was just two weeks old yet and he was his first child.

"No messy diaper and not hungry. Hm, someone just wants to be awake then?" Naruto went on and smiled when Itachi blinked at him, waving his little fists around. "Come on, let's introduce you to a friend, hm? Let's see whether you can wrap him around your teeny, tiny finger too!"

Because make no mistake: his son had already wrapped his grandparents and Naruto's friends around his chubby, little finger. Even Gaara had appeared a tad smitten with him by the time he and Temari had ended their visit last week.

"Look who's here," he said in a sing-song voice, walking back into the living room.

Deidara looked up with a smile. "Ah, there he is. Did the delivery go smoothly?"

Naruto shrugged, sinking back down on the couch. "He was here in a couple of hours, so I suppose I can't complain too much."

"How are the nights?" Deidara gave him a sympathetic look.

"I'm quite tired, but I knew what I signed up for when I decided to keep him," Naruto admitted with a rueful chuckle.

Taking care of Itachi day and night on top of his studying and keeping the apartment in relative order was turning out to be a lot harder than he'd expected, but it wasn't impossible yet. Sure, he felt like he could sleep for days and every morning he had to drag himself out of his bed, but well, that was just how it was.

He couldn't really complain, though. Sasuke got up in the middle of the night as well to tend to Itachi if he needed his diaper changed, so Naruto still managed to get at least a couple of hours of sleep each night.

God, he'd really lucked out with Sasuke.

"You want to hold him?" Naruto inquired when he caught Deidara staring at Itachi with an odd look on his face.

"Oh, er, I don't know, un," he laughed uneasily, rubbing the back of his neck. "The only kids I'm around are already teenagers. I've never even held a baby."

"Well, for everything there's a first time, no?" Naruto reasoned and held out Itachi. "What do you think? Want to say hello?"

Deidara released his breath slowly, almost hissing, before he inclined his head and opened his arms. They trembled slightly, but as soon as Itachi was placed in them, they stilled and Naruto heard the older blond's breath catching.

"He's beautiful, un," Deidara said quietly, his face shielded by his long, blond hair. "He looks like Itachi."

Naruto started and glanced down at his son. He hadn't seen any baby pictures of Sasuke's older brother, but he supposed Deidara might have seen them back then. Then he remembered that Sasuke had told him he'd thought his brother and Deidara had been an item and he winced. He hadn't thought about that before offering to let Deidara hold his son.

"Are you – are you okay?" he asked hesitatingly, nibbling at his lower lip when he noticed a fine tremor going through the other man.

"Yeah, yeah, of course I am, un," Deidara said quickly, too quickly; his voice gaining a rough edge. "Just … Thinking that Itachi would probably be so smug, knowing you named his nephew after him, you know? It would definitely have got to his arrogant head." His chuckle was wet and he still wasn't looking up. He kept his head down, stroking Itachi's cheek with one finger, while Itachi gazed back at him curiously.

Naruto didn't say anything when he saw a tear falling down on Itachi's powder blue onesie, but let the other man mourn quietly for what he would never have.

* * *

If he clung to Sasuke a bit tighter that evening in bed, well, that was his business only.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN2: So yep, this will have at least a couple of parts as well, because what else is new? *coughs*
> 
> Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
> 
> I hope to see you all back in the next chapter!
> 
> Cuddles
> 
> Melissa


	18. Adjusting Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: A bit earlier than usual, yay! It's progress of sorts *coughs*
> 
> Thank you for all your comments and your kudos!
> 
> Warnings: some time skips; short implied mature content; smidgen of angst I guess? Not sure what to call that part to be honest
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
> 
> I hope you'll like it!

_18 Adjusting Part 2_

"You got everything packed?" Sasuke appeared in the doorway of their bedroom; a cup of coffee in one hand.

"Yeah, I packed two bags for Itachi and two for us," Naruto confirmed, struggling with the zipper a bit before he finally managed to close it completely. "Mum already texted me that she's gone to the store to pick up diapers, so at least we won't run out of that."

"We still got clothes left in your room too, no?" Sasuke wandered into the room and sank down on the bed, casting a quick glance in the crib.

Itachi was sleeping peacefully after having had a bout of crying before drinking some milk. His cheeks were still stained reddish, but that was the only sign that betrayed he'd been upset earlier.

"Yeah, we do, though whether or not they'll still fit me is a whole other question," Naruto muttered, carefully lowering the last bag against the wall. The last thing he wanted was to startle Itachi awake if he accidentally dropped the bag too loud.

"It's not like you gained that much weight during your pregnancy," Sasuke instantly countered.

Naruto decided to let it go, not in the mood to start a whole discussion on how he looked like. He preferred avoiding the mirror for at least a couple of months, that was all he had to say about this matter.

"You know when you're going to get your marks?" he asked instead, flopping down on the bed next to his mate.

"Should be somewhere this afternoon," Sasuke grunted, taking another sip from his coffee before putting it on the nightstand. "You?"

"Late afternoon or so," Naruto muttered and pursed his lips at the ceiling. He wasn't really looking forwards to getting his marks. He knew he'd done well on most of his exams, but the one he was most worried about was Mizuki's class.

He hadn't thought about the professor after leaving the aula and rushing to Shizune, but now his stomach cramped up at the thought of how he'd left the exam. Mizuki had had it out for him since the moment he'd informed the man he was pregnant; would that reflect in any way in his marks for that class? He knew he had done well enough to pass it, but Mizuki had seemed almost doggedly determined to find any excuse to fail him.

God, he couldn't repeat that class for yet another semester.

"You look worried," Sasuke murmured, lying down beside him, his head propped up on his hand. "I thought your exams had gone well?"

Naruto hesitated, wondering whether he should tell him about Mizuki, knowing how protective Sasuke tended to become at times. His marks would definitely suffer if his mate got into an altercation with one of his professors – no matter how much he would have loved to see Sasuke having a go at the bastard.

He decided to alter the truth a little bit. "Just a bit worried about my last exam. I couldn't really concentrate well during my contractions, so I don't know how well I did on that one. I really don't want to repeat that class, though," he sighed. "Another semester with that prick might actually drive me insane."

"And we don't want that," Sasuke smirked before adding absently, "I wouldn't worry too much about that class. I'm sure you did fine, even with everything that was going on."

"I hope so. I'm going to throw a fit if I find out that I failed that one," Naruto said darkly, rubbing his hands over his face.

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Sasuke assured him and leant over to peck his lips. "You packed all the presents too?"

Grateful for the change in subject – his stomach did uncomfortable summersaults whenever the thought of his marks crossed his mind – he answered, "Yeah, I put them in the blue bag underneath some of our clothes. I already gave Deidara his present when he was here two days ago."

He still felt a bit guilty for not having remembered on time that Deidara had been dating Sasuke's older brother before he'd been murdered. He'd just wanted to let him meet their baby, not having realised that his chosen name might call up sad memories. Deidara had seemed to have recovered by the time he'd left their apartment with his Christmas gift – promising to give them theirs once they were back from visiting Naruto's parents – but Naruto could have smacked himself for his stupidity.

"When do you want to leave tomorrow?" Sasuke asked; his hand coming to rest on the blond's hip.

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know, maybe eight or so? Itachi will wake us up early anyway to eat."

"Sounds good to me."

* * *

He made Sasuke check his marks, because all his nerves instantly disappeared once he saw the e-mail with his results popping up in his mailbox.

"Seriously?" Sasuke looked at him unimpressed. "It's just your results; you can check it yourself."

His own were great; there had been no reason to assume he would have done less well on any of his classes, given how smart he was.

Pulling Itachi back up against his shoulder after having finished changing his diaper, Naruto turned his head to scowl at the dark haired man. "Yes, seriously. I don't want to check them – you check them!"

"Naruto," Sasuke sighed, but shut up when an accusing finger was pointed at him.

"I pushed your kid out of me, the least you can do is check my marks!"

"That doesn't even – whatever, I'll check them."

Sasuke's eye-roll was so unnecessary if you asked Naruto. Tense, he watched like a hawk how Sasuke pulled his laptop closer to him and selected the e-mail Naruto hadn't been able to convince himself to open. Dark eyes slowly slid down and his blank face combined with his silence made Naruto nervous.

"And? How badly did I mess up?" he asked tersely, adjusting his hold on Itachi when the baby fussed.

Sasuke looked up and raised an eyebrow. "You passed all your classes, congratulations," he said dryly.

"Wait, seriously?!" Naruto shot towards him and leant down to stare at his screen. A pair of hands came up to take Itachi over from him and as soon as his arms were empty, he dropped down on the bed and dragged the laptop on his lap, staring at the screen in disbelief.

"I passed all my classes," he mumbled, eyes widening as he took in the good marks. They weren't as high as Sasuke's, but they were definitely high enough to be proud of. "I even passed Mizuki's class!"

Sure, that one was one of the lower grades he'd received, but he'd still passed it!

"Of course you did – there was no reason you wouldn't pass," Sasuke said absentmindedly, smiling when Itachi huffed and curled his hand into a fist.

Suspicion started nagging at him and Naruto furrowed his eyebrows, glancing at the Alpha from the corner of his eye. "Say, you wouldn't have something to do with this, do you?" he asked warily. Sasuke had been way too confident that he would pass this class, despite the fact that he'd admitted that near the end, he'd just been guessing because the pain had started to become too much.

Sasuke stood up and walked to the door. "Why would I have something to do with that? I've got better things to do than to get into a row with one of your professors," he answered calmly and nodded at the phone on the nightstand. "Why don't you call your parents with the good news? Otherwise they'll just blow up your phone with texts anyway."

"We're going to see them tomorrow, so I don't see the point in texting them now about it," Naruto muttered, but regardless of his argument, he still snatched his phone up so he could compose his message. "And you really didn't have anything to do with this? At all?"

"How could I have when I don't know what exactly happened?" Sasuke questioned affably before stepping out of the room. "I'm going to check what we can have for dinner."

"Sure thing." Naruto glanced back at the screen, sliding the tip of his tongue against the back of his teeth. It was true that Sasuke didn't know all the details of what kind of a jerk Mizuki had been …

Ah well, what did it matter? He'd passed the class and now he would never have to see that arsehole's face again! That was all that mattered!

* * *

The winter break went by with a lot of good food and naturally a lot of presents. Naruto's parents were obviously very excited to celebrate their grandson's first Christmas, because they'd gone slightly overboard with the amount of presents they'd bought for him. They would need a whole new bag just to take everything with them to the apartment.

Kakashi finally met Itachi two days after Christmas. True to his word, Sasuke had utterly refused to give the older Alpha a call to tell him the news about their baby, so Naruto had done it in the end much to his own exasperation. Kakashi had taken it quite well, more amused than offended that he was the last person to know about Itachi.

Naruto took Itachi and a very unwilling Sasuke to visit Kakashi at his place where the latter was quite enthusiastic to meet the newest Uchiha – albeit from a short distance, because Sasuke refused to hand over the baby, glaring at Kakashi whenever the man made an attempt to come closer.

Naturally that only made Kakashi more determined to do just that and Naruto was hard pressed to tell which man was acting the most childish. He'd long since given up on understanding the dynamics between the two Alpha, but man, it would be nice if they both could behave just this _once_.

* * *

The end of January had him visiting Tsunade again for his scheduled check-up.

"How are you feeling?" Tsunade asked, smiling amused when Itachi babbled something non-sensical from his spot in Sasuke's arms.

He was dressed in a dark blue onesie and his blue eyes were roving around the room, blinking at the sharp light.

"Tired," Naruto answered bluntly, hiding a yawn behind his hand. Itachi had been crying almost the entire night and had only managed to fall asleep near dawn. It was a good thing it was Saturday, so neither of them had had to get up early.

She inclined her head in understanding. "Apart from that? Any particular soreness or pain that's out of the ordinary?"

"Nope, just a bit tender down there still, but that's normal, right?" He looked at her questioningly, fiddling with the tassels of his scarf. The cloth itself was still a bit damp from that snow that had fallen on it.

"That's perfectly normal," she confirmed, typing something quickly. "It's just your body slowly changing back to your pre-pregnancy state. You'll probably feel tender for a couple of more weeks still, but normally over a month, you shouldn't be bothered by it anymore."

"That's good to know," he muttered. It wasn't like he was in any real pain, but he could practically feel his body changing once more. He would be glad once all the lingering aches were finally gone.

"All right, ready for the examination?" She looked at him expectantly, resting her hands on the desk.

He wrinkled his nose and shrugged off his jacket, throwing his scarf over the back of his chair. "Not really, but I don't really have a choice, do I?" he grumbled and stood up. "Let's get this over and done with."

She rolled her eyes and stood up as well. "You're always such a joy to work with."

He bared his teeth at her. "Glad you recognise that." He whirled around and pointed a finger at Sasuke. "You know the drill: no peeking."

"I saw you give birth," Sasuke droned, letting Itachi clasp his tiny fingers around his index finger. "I don't see why you're still - "

"Nuh uh, you're staying here with Itachi and you won't peek!" Naruto stated, glowering at him until dark eyes rolled and Sasuke nodded.

"Yes, fine, I'll stay here," he said exasperatedly; his leather jacket crinkling a bit when he shifted in his chair.

"I admire your patience, kid," Tsunade said and shook her head. "Don't know how he hasn't driven you insane yet."

"Please," Naruto scoffed and made his way to the curtain to change out of his clothes behind it. "I'm a fu-freaking delight and you know it."

"I'm not even going to respond to that," she snorted.

Casually he flipped her the bird before he disappeared behind the curtain to get rid of his jeans and his underwear. Even with his socks still on, the coldness of the metal stirrups was hard to ignore when he rested his feet in it and he grimaced, hoping the examination would be over quickly.

"All right, brat," she said and plunked down on the stool, snapping her gloves on, "I'm going to check whether you're healing as you should. It might be a bit uncomfortable, but I'll be careful. Let me know if you're in any pain, okay?"

"Yep, sure," he muttered, resting his hands on his stomach and twirling his thumbs around each other while he stared at the brightly lit ceiling.

He concentrated on the noises Itachi was making and Sasuke's soft murmuring to distract himself while Tsunade bent between his legs and carefully started examining him. He still couldn't help but tense up when two fingers breached him, but he just took a deep breath and forced himself to relax. The quicker she could do this, the quicker he could put on his clothes again. He really didn't like being on display like this, even though she'd helped him give birth and this was less embarrassing than that had been.

"You're cleared, brat," she announced, pushing her stool away from the examination table. She removed her gloves and disposed of them in the small bin. "Everything is healing well; you've got nothing to worry about."

"Thank god for that," he muttered and awkwardly slipped off the table while she returned to her desk.

Once he was fully dressed again, he sank back in his chair and hugged Itachi close to his chest when Sasuke handed him over silently.

"So I don't have any other examinations to go through, right?" he asked, just to be certain.

She shook her head, typing the information in his file. "No, you don't have any other examinations planned after this, unless you suddenly start feeling unwell. The next check-up with me will be when you want to go back on suppressants," she replied, peering at her screen.

"But I can only take those again when I stop breastfeeding, no?" He thought his mum had warned him about that a while ago.

"Yeah, you have to completely stop breastfeeding before you can go back on your suppressants," she confirmed, leaning back in her chair. "Can't have your milk be filled with those hormones. That said, there's nothing keeping you from having some fun in the meantime if you're up for it," she smirked; her eyes glittering when Naruto made an odd choking noise. "You just have to make sure you use condoms of course, unless you want another baby so soon, in which case I fully reserve the right to judge you."

Ignoring his cheeks heating up, Naruto rolled his eyes and cupped the back of Itachi's head. "I love Itachi, but I'm definitely not ready for another baby so soon."

"Good to know the lack of sleep isn't affecting your common sense," she smiled satisfied before waving her hand. "Anyway, should you want to have some fun, nothing's stopping you. You're fully cleared for that type of activities. Just you know, make sure you use the right entrance." Her smirk was downright evil now.

"You're evil and horrible and I don't even know why I still go to you," Naruto informed her darkly.

She just cackled in response, because she was an evil hag like that.

* * *

"I finally got Itachi to sleep," Naruto sighed and dropped down on the couch, rubbing both his hands through his hair quickly. "He definitely wasn't in the mood to sleep, let me tell you that."

"I heard," Sasuke murmured, frowning at the notebook on his lap. "I was planning on taking over when he stopped crying."

"I think he cried himself to sleep," Naruto muttered and peeked at the page. "You're writing the grocery list?"

"Yeah, you wanted to go on Monday, right?"

"Yep, they're going to have some pretty good sales then," Naruto confirmed and stretched his arms with a soft groan. "You put ramen on the list already?"

Sasuke's hand paused above the paper before he wrote something down and the blond smiled satisfied.

"Anything else?" Sasuke inquired, showing the list.

"Nah, I think you've got everything on it," Naruto said, grabbing the remote to turn on the television. Now that Itachi was asleep, he hoped to catch up to some shows. "And if not, we'll probably remember it once we're in the store anyway."

Sasuke hummed before asking casually, "You want me to add condoms to the list for when we're both in the mood?"

Naruto choked on his own spit and started coughing, thumping his chest. "The hell, Sasuke?" he brought out in a hoarse voice, staring at him incredulously.

"You were acting weird the whole drive back," Sasuke said, putting the notebook on the table. "I'm guessing it had to do with what Tsunade told us at the end, right?"

"I wasn't acting weird," Naruto mumbled, scowling at the television.

"Yes, you were," Sasuke countered calmly. "You were more quiet than usual. Tell me why she got you rattled now? It's not like this is the first time she referred to our sex life."

"I'm not rattled, I'm just …" Naruto breathed out slowly, annoyance filling him and he rubbed his cheeks harshly. Refusing to look at the other man, he muttered, "It's just that – I'm not really in the mood for sex. I'm tired the whole damn time, I'm sore and I might not look like a whale anymore, but I'm still fat."

"You're not fat, Naruto. You're already slimming down," Sasuke interrupted him, frowning. "Even if you did keep the weight, though, I'd still find you attr-"

"I feel fat then," Naruto snapped annoyed, whipping his head around to glare at him. "And that doesn't really get me in the mood to fuck! Plus I don't trust condoms on their own. I know they're safe, but what if one breaks? Then I'll probably end up pregnant again and the last thing we need is another baby! I love Itachi, I really do, but I can't handle another baby now! I rather wait until I'm back on my suppressants, because then at least I know I'll be safe if I don't fuck up again and - "

"Hey, hey, it's fine," Sasuke said and pulled him against him, wrapping his arms around him. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to do. You know I would never push you."

"I know that," Naruto muttered; his voice muffled against Sasuke's shoulder. His hands crept around Sasuke's waist to clutch at his sweater. "It's not that I don't want to, but I'm too tired and I want to be back on my suppressants before we have sex. But that might take some months still and that doesn't mean that you won't get in the mood, so I'm sor-"

"Don't apologise," Sasuke cut him off sharply and pushed him away gently to look at him. "Never apologise for something like that. If you don't want it, you don't want it. You never have to apologise for that."

"I know, I know." Naruto took a shuddering breath, embarrassed at himself for behaving like this. He knew Sasuke would never push him, but just because he wasn't in the mood, that didn't mean Sasuke wouldn't get in the mood eventually, right?

"Besides, I can always use my hand if it comes to that," Sasuke added dryly, smiling when that made Naruto laugh startled.

"Sorry, don't know why I suddenly started freaking out like this," Naruto sighed when he'd stopped laughing. He pricked his ears, but he couldn't hear any crying, so Itachi must still be asleep.

When he saw Sasuke opening his mouth, he warned sharply, "Don't even think of telling me it's hormones, because I swear to god I will punch you."

Kiba had made the mistake of wisely claiming that Naruto's frustration with the microwave last week had everything to do with his hormones running rampant and had been clocked in the head by one of Naruto's textbooks in response. No, his frustration had had fuck all to do with hormones and everything to do with the fact that the microwave had been _behaving like a piece of shit._

Sasuke raised his hands up in the air with an amused huff. "I wasn't going to say anything like that."

Blue eyes narrowed at him suspiciously, before Naruto harrumphed and plastered himself against the Alpha's side, pulling his arm around his shoulders. "Good, because I'd hate to punch you," he sniffed, draping his own arm across Sasuke's – _very firm, absolutely not flabby_ – stomach.

"Good to hear," Sasuke said amused and then they settled in to watch the show Naruto had clicked on, enjoying the quiet moment now that Itachi was fast asleep.

When the commercials started, Naruto stirred and mumbled, his fingers slipping underneath a thick sweater to rest on warm skin, "You know, I might not feel up to actual sex yet, but I still got hands and a mouth that I'd be happy to use."

Sasuke's body shook underneath him with silent laughter. "I'll keep that offer in mind."

Naruto grinned and threw his leg over Sasuke's. "You do that."

* * *

Naruto made good on his offer a couple of days later when he woke up with Sasuke's erection pressing against his arse. The Alpha was still soundly asleep, obviously still tired from waking up a couple of times when Itachi had started crying.

Grinning mischievously, Naruto carefully handled Sasuke on his back and slipped underneath the sheets. Pulling the shorts down, he didn't waste any time and took him in his mouth completely, swallowing once the tip brushed the back of his throat. That had a shock running through the body underneath him and hands buried themselves in his hair when he set about sucking the Alpha off quickly.

He knew they didn't have that much time – Itachi could wake up any minute now – so he threw in all the tricks he'd learnt throughout their years together and was rewarded for that by low groans and bit off curses while fingers tightened and relaxed in equal measure around blond strands.

It didn't take long for Sasuke to come down his throat with his name being hissed through clenched teeth and after swallowing it, he sat up, licking his lips before wiping the back of his hand across his mouth. Smugness filled him at the sight of a heavily breathing Sasuke, whose cheeks were flushed and pupils were still dilated. _He_ 'd done that; _he_ was the cause of that look on his Alpha's face.

Dark eyes glowed when Sasuke beckoned him closer and Naruto smirked, leaning down to kiss him.

Until Itachi started crying, letting them know he needed food _now_.

Well, at least it was only a kiss he'd interrupted; that was less frustrating than the alternative, Naruto considered as he unbuttoned his shirt so he could feed Itachi.

And hell, it was good to know he could still drive Sasuke crazy with his mouth alone.

* * *

"Sure, sounds great," Naruto agreed, waiting for the light to turn green. "If Sasori-san is okay with us bringing Itachi along. I don't want to leave him with someone else yet."

"Perfectly understandable, un," Deidara said on the other end of the line. "Don't worry about Sasori; he's okay with you bringing Itachi-kun. And even if he wasn't, he knows better than to argue with me about it."

Naruto chuckled, caressing fine black hair when Itachi muttered something. He was carrying the baby against his chest in a sling, finding that easier than to push a pram. Besides, the place where he was going to wasn't easily accessible with a pram anyway.

"If he's got a problem with Itachi-kun being there, he can talk to me about it, un," Deidara said flippantly.

Naruto shook his head and crossed the street when the light turned green. After the first meeting, Deidara had turned out to be completely smitten with little Itachi, often bringing presents for him when he visited them. Honestly at times Naruto wondered whether Deidara was visiting to see them or to see Itachi. It was hard to tell sometimes.

"I'll let Sasuke know you invited us," Naruto said, side-stepping a puddle from last night's raining bout. "I'm sure he'll agree to go."

"Let me know whether you can come, no pressure if you can't, I understand, un," Deidara replied and then cursed softly. "My break's over. I'll talk to you later, un."

"Yep, bye!" Naruto hung up and went around the corner, slipping his phone into the pocket of his jacket. He'd left it unzipped of course, because he was carrying Itachi in a sling, but it helped to give him some protection against the wind. So far March hadn't seem very willing to slowly turn into spring.

Soon his university building came into view and he quickened his pace, casting a wary glance at the grey sky. He might have to wait for Sasuke's class to be over with if it started raining heavily. Normally he wouldn't be at the university today as all his classes were online ones, but his internet connection was iffy and he needed to hand in his paper today or risk losing two points for tardiness.

With his internet connection showing no immediate signs of improving and stabilising, he'd opted for printing out his paper and delivering it to the professor herself so that he would still be on time.

After handing in his paper, he stepped out into the hallway again, glad that his professor hadn't been difficult about it. She didn't strike him as a ruthless teacher, but Itachi's presence had probably helped him a bit, because he'd basically seen her soften up once she'd laid eyes on him.

"You wrap everyone around your little finger, hm?" he said, brushing a kiss on top of Itachi's head. He got some sort of "Bah!" sound in response and he snickered.

"Well, don't you make the adorable pair together?"

His head shot up at the vaguely familiar female voice and he blinked when a red haired girl halted in front of him. Her glasses slipped down for a second before she pushed them back up and she smiled friendly at him.

"Ah, you're the one who got me out of the aula back then!" he realised suddenly, blushing when he couldn't immediately recall her name. "Sorry, your name has slipped my mind," he admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

She smiled and adjusted her bag on her shoulder. "No worries, I'm Karin. You're Naruto-kun, right? Sasuke-kun's mate."

"That's me," he confirmed; his cheeks reddening further at the verbal acknowledgment of the bond between him and Sasuke. At the same time he was pleasantly surprised to hear her say that without sneering. Usually girls tended to be rather pissed off at him when they realised he was the one who'd captured their precious Sasuke-kun's heart.

"How are you doing?" she asked, smiling when Itachi blew a spit bubble. "Your baby is adorable, by the way. So cute!"

"Thanks," he smiled, relaxing now that he didn't have to worry about defending himself against a crazy fangirl. Sasuke still had those way too much for his liking. "I'm fine. Itachi's not waking us up that often anymore during the night." His grin widened when he recalled how jealous mum had been about that. Apparently he'd kept them up for nearly his entire first year; Itachi must take after Sasuke in that regard, probably. Too bad he couldn't ask Sasuke's family about that anymore.

"He doesn't?" She seemed genuinely taken aback by that and he stared at her bemused.

"No, I mean, he does still wake us up a few times, but it's not as bad as before anymore," he replied slowly. "Why?"

"Oh, er," she fiddled with the gemstone on her necklace, "it's just that I've heard from Suigetsu – you know, that idiot who brought Sasuke-kun to you when you were in labour – that Sasuke-kun has nearly fallen asleep a couple of times in class. We just figured it was because the baby was keeping you two awake."

His frown deepened as his confusion grew. Sasuke had nearly fallen asleep in his classes? He hadn't mentioned any of that to him.

"No, Itachi's been rather good about that," he answered absently; his mind no longer with the conversation as he tried to figure out what was going on. "Thanks for telling me this. I'm going to insist on taking up more shifts in the night if Sasuke's nearly falling asleep."

"Ah, I don't want to cause any arguments between you two," she said nervously, biting down on her lip. "I thought you knew about it already."

"No, I didn't, but I appreciate you telling me this. Sasuke's a bit too noble sometimes," he replied; his smile thinner than he wanted it to be.

Why hadn't Sasuke told him about this? Why did he need to hear from someone else, someone he wasn't even that close to, that Sasuke was almost falling asleep in his classes? Was the sleep deprivation of the past months only hitting him just now? Why couldn't he just have said something about it? Naruto would have taken more night shifts if he'd known!

"Well, I've got a class now, but it was great seeing you again," she said and checked her watch. "You've got a very cute baby!"

"Thanks." He watched her hurry away; her footsteps echoing until they faded out when she rounded the corner.

He then turned around and made his way to the exit. He had some investigating to do.

* * *

_He should have known._

He wanted to slap himself for not having seen this coming sooner. With Sasuke's history of being too protective, how could he have not expected this to happen?

Because Sasuke was still following sessions with Orochimaru and he had been improving in the last couple of months. That wasn't an excuse for him to not have seen this coming. He knew all too well how Sasuke's past had shaped him, he still had the proof of it hanging in the kitchen and near the front door – this was on him.

Sasuke was indeed sleep deprived – but not because Itachi's crying kept him awake at night. No.

He was tired because he kept getting up several times in the night to check on Itachi in the other room.

They had moved Itachi to his nursery two weeks ago now that they didn't need to get up so many times at night to tend to him. Naturally they had a baby monitor in the room so that they would know when he needed them, but they didn't have to get up every hour anymore.

At least Naruto didn't. Sasuke, on the other hand, did, even when it was clear Itachi was still asleep and didn't need them.

Naruto hadn't realised at first what Sasuke was doing. After his conversation with Karin, he'd gone back home and had pretended not to know anything when Sasuke had returned home an hour later. But he'd started paying attention at night, wanting to know what was causing Sasuke to be so sleep deprived when it couldn't be Itachi.

The first night he'd felt Sasuke leave the bed around one o'clock, but hadn't thought much of it, assuming he went to get a glass of water. Sasuke hadn't stayed away for long either. Two hours later they'd both been awake when Itachi had started crying. Nothing out of the ordinary there.

At five o'clock Sasuke had got up again, stayed away for a little while before coming back to bed.

Naruto had written it off as a restless night at first, assuming it was because of a paper that Sasuke was having trouble writing.

But the next night it happened again. The third night as well. Same during the fourth and the fifth night.

Either Sasuke was one very thirsty guy at night or he was doing something else during those moments he was gone.

On the sixth night when Sasuke had got up again, Naruto had quietly followed him. Sasuke had gone straight to the nursery and for a moment Naruto had wondered whether he'd somehow managed to miss their son calling out for them. But no, when Naruto had peeked inside the room, Itachi had still been fast asleep. He'd watched Sasuke stand next to the crib for a while, his face hidden within the shadows, but it had been clear he'd been watching Itachi.

A few hours later Sasuke had got up again and Naruto had trailed him to the nursery once more. Yet again there had been no sign whatsoever that Itachi had cried out. Sasuke had again just stood there for a while, looking at their baby, before he'd gone back to bed.

The seventh night had followed the same pattern. Sasuke got out of bed multiple times at night just to check up on Itachi, even when it was clear that the boy was just sleeping.

Naruto didn't need to ask why; he thought he knew. Sasuke wanted, no, _needed_ to see with his own eyes that Itachi was okay, even though only a thin wall separated both their rooms and they would know immediately if something was wrong. The desire to check that Itachi was okay was the same desire which had prompted him to sic people on Naruto back when he'd still been pregnant and would have been alone at home otherwise.

Naruto understood. He got it, okay? He understood being protective about Itachi, wanting to ensure he was okay. But he couldn't allow this to go on any longer. If Sasuke kept this up, he would either really fall asleep in class or would just collapse from pure exhaustion – neither option appealed to Naruto.

Convincing Sasuke to cease checking on Itachi so many times would be difficult, though – unless Naruto had something that could soothe the dark haired man's worries.

Which he now did. He opened the box that had just arrived and nodded when he saw the object safely encased within Styrofoam. He thought this would be the best way to convince Sasuke to curb his worrying.

He just needed to wait until Sasuke got home to show it to him.

* * *

"What's that?" Sasuke stared blankly at the small monitor Naruto showed him.

"It's connected to one in Itachi's nursery," Naruto said and pressed on the ON button. The screen flickered to life, showing the empty crib and part of the room. "This way we can check on Itachi during the night without having to leave our bed. What do you think?"

Sasuke's face contorted with a range of emotions, his fingers twitching and tensing while he stared at the screen. He looked angry for a few seconds, before that melted away and a vague look of shame crossed his face before that got shut down as well.

"That – that seems handy," he eventually brought out; his eyes flicking upwards to Naruto's face.

"Yeah, it does seem handy, hm?" Naruto beamed, placing the monitor on the table for now. "With the baby monitor and this screen, we can both hear and see him if he needs us now. Nice, huh?"

Sasuke gave him a jerky nod before he abruptly tugged him against his body and kissed him. "Thanks," he whispered; his arms tightening around the blond a bit.

Naruto nodded, hugging him back. "No problem," he said simply.

Sasuke knew he knew about his nightly worries and that the screen was Naruto's way of helping him out. Sasuke was still working on the issues stemming from his past, but if a small screen could offer him some peace of mind – and more sleep – Naruto was all for it.

What was an extra monitoring device if it meant Sasuke would be more at ease?

Some might call it catering to his worries, but Naruto didn't care about that. He was confident that the monitor would eventually be stored back into its box once Sasuke felt comfortable enough. In the meantime Sasuke could be more at ease.

That was all that counted.

* * *

"You're ready for your third year to start?" Mum asked smiling, curling her legs next to her.

"Yes and no," Naruto admitted truthfully and shook his head laughing. "I mean, I can't wait for the third year to start, but it's weird to realise that this time next year I'll have graduated, you know?"

Mum hummed and nodded. "Yeah, I get what you mean. I felt exactly the same when I was still studying," she told him and took a couple of sips from her iced tea. "I'm proud of you, Naruto. You passed this year with good marks even though you're a full time parent now as well." She squeezed his knee and her eyes shone with both pride and love.

"Well, I've got a great example," he smiled cheekily at her and leant across to hug her.

"Naruto." Sasuke appeared in front of the couch, holding out Itachi to him. The baby was dressed in blue trousers, which mimicked jeans, with a light green shirt and a little jacket on top; the zipper of it hiding the shirt from view.

"What?"

"He needs his diaper changed," Sasuke informed him, wrinkling his nose.

"It's your turn!" Naruto argued immediately, scowling over Itachi's head at him. "I did it a few hours ago, remember?"

"I know, but Kakashi's calling me again and I need to pick up, otherwise he just keeps bothering me," Sasuke sighed aggravatedly.

"Eugh, fine, but you owe me two changing turns now," Naruto warned him and took Itachi over from him. "All right, let's get you all clean again while your papa deals with the old man, okay?"

Itachi giggled and smacked his hand against his chest. Well, at least someone was happy about changing a diaper.

Humming to himself, Naruto went to the nursery his parents had set up and laid Itachi down on the changing table, retrieving a new diaper from the bag.

"Let's see how messy your diaper is now, hm?" Naruto said and pulled a face at Itachi, making him giggle louder. "First, let's get you out of this jacket, though, because it's getting quite warm, isn't it?"

He lowered the zipper and was about to lift up Itachi to pull the jacket off of him completely when dark letters on the shirt caught his attention. "Hey, this isn't the shirt I put on you this morning," Naruto said surprised and reached out to straighten the shirt a bit so that he could read whatever was pressed on it. When had he even bought this one? He couldn't remember ever purchasing this shirt. Maybe it'd been a present from his parents or Deidara; that'd make sense.

Then he read the text on the shirt and his brain instantly short circuited; his mouth dropping open in shock.

There, printed across Itachi's small chest in bright blue letters, was " _Please Marry My Papa_ ".

And when Naruto turned around in shock, Sasuke was there, on the floor on one knee, holding out a small box to him. A golden ring with a thin line of sapphires in the middle glinted back at him.

He'd never seen black eyes so intense as now when Sasuke asked, "And? Do you want to marry me, Naruto?"

_Holy shit._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN2: *hums* Holy shit indeed.
> 
> Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
> 
> I hope to see you all back in the third part of "Adjusting"!
> 
> Cuddles
> 
> Melissa


	19. Adjusting Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: Later than I had intended, but at least it's still within the week I was supposed to update. Also can't remember if I said this would be the last part of the Adjusting era, but it's not *coughs* Adjusting has got one more part after this, just a head's up.
> 
> Thanks for all the kudos and the comments!
> 
> Warnings: time skips; mature content; some drama near the end; I think that's it.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
> 
> I hope you'll like it!

_19 Adjusting Part 3_

"Holy shit, are you serious?" Naruto blurted out before he could compose himself.

Sasuke blinked. "Yes, I'm serious."

"You're not joking at all? You're actually serious? You're really asking me to marry you?"

"Yes, I am. This is me asking you to marry me," Sasuke replied, still patiently kneeling on one knee while offering the ring. He looked ready to kneel there the entire day if he had to.

"Are you insane? You actually want to marry me?" Naruto flayed his arms around, freaking out while Itachi softly babbled to himself behind him, completely unaware of what was happening right in front of him.

"One might consider me insane, but yes, I want to marry you," Sasuke said dryly. "So, what's your answer?"

"If you marry me, there's not going to be any takebacksies," Naruto felt he should warn the other man. He was starting to feel a bit lightheaded and hoped he wouldn't pass out. That would be embarrassing as hell.

Sasuke paused and a look crossed his face, as if he was wondering how much of an idiot the blond could be. "We Marked each other," he said slowly. "We're as good as married anyway, this would make things just more official. Do you want to marry me or not; kind of want an answer now."

"You're really not joking," Naruto finally realised and his heart skipped a beat. Holy shit, Sasuke was asking him to marry him! He was actually on his knee, offering a ring and all!

Holy fuck!

"Why would I joke about something like this?" Sasuke asked blankly. "If you don't want to -"

"No!" Naruto blurted out before backpedalling when he realised how that might be taken, "I mean, yes! Yes, I want to marry you!" He offered his hand, ignoring how it slightly trembled; excitement making him vibrate on the spot.

A quick smile flitted across Sasuke's face before he slipped the ring around Naruto's finger. He had just enough time to push it all the way over the finger before Naruto threw himself at him and they went down on the floor, the Alpha's body cushioning his fall. Naruto sought out his lips immediately for a deep kiss, nearly elbowing him in the gut in his enthusiasm, as his arms came up to bracket Sasuke's head.

Hands settled on his arse, their legs entangled, and Sasuke kissed him back equally as fierce; his joy and relief at having his proposal accepted practically tangible.

"We're _engaged_ ," Naruto said giddily, breathlessly when he finally pulled back to gulp in some much needed air. Waggling the hand with the ring in front of Sasuke's face, he grinned cheekily, "You're stuck with me for life now, Uchiha."

"Oh, what a horrible life that will be," Sasuke droned, but his eyes were glowing and his hands had taken up caressing Naruto's back.

Naruto couldn't resist dipping his head down for another kiss, which quickly deepened again until Itachi started crying, letting them know he very much didn't appreciate not having their attention.

* * *

"How long have you been planning this?" Naruto asked later that evening in the bed they were sharing in his old room. Itachi was asleep in the nursery his grandparents had made for him; the baby monitor and the screen put on the nightstand. They would stay here for two more days before they would return to their own apartment to prepare for the next academic year.

"Hm?" Sasuke turned around, having been fussing with the monitor and the screen for a bit.

Naruto had let him do it, knowing from experience by now that arranging the two devices to his liking would have Sasuke sleeping much easier.

"This." He waggled his fingers; the ring glinting in the dim light of the lamp.

Mum had been beside herself when they'd emerged from the room with the ring proudly adorning Naruto's finger. Dad had confessed that they had helped Sasuke find a good printer with decent prices, but that had been the extent of their involvement in the planning. They hadn't known what exactly Sasuke had wanted to print on the shirt, only that it was part of his plan to propose.

Naruto was frankly amazed mum had been able to keep her mouth shut about something as huge as this for a while.

"Oh." Sasuke blinked. "Since last year."

He stated it very matter-of-factly as if there was nothing odd about that. Naruto stared at him.

"You were planning this for a whole year?" he asked, voice a bit strangled. "What made you … A whole year? Just why? And since when exactly?!"

Sasuke grabbed his hand and stroked the ring absently. "I started thinking about it a little while before you told me you were pregnant," he said slowly. "I wanted to make it special, memorable for you, but I had trouble coming up with something that wasn't utterly cliché." He grimaced, wrinkling his nose.

"After you told me you wanted to keep the baby, I came up with the idea of using baby clothes to propose." He shrugged and kissed Naruto's hand. "Once I decided how to propose, it was just a matter of finding the right moment."

"Well, I definitely can't accuse you of being cliché about it," Naruto snickered, stretching his fingers and admiring the ring. God, he didn't think he would ever get tired of looking at it, knowing what it represented. "I need to get you a ring too," he mumbled. He could hardly be the only one walking around with a ring.

"If you want," Sasuke said calmly, but a small smile played around his mouth nonetheless.

Naruto eyed him, watching the pleased glint that had yet to leave dark eyes so far. Lightly he questioned, "I'm definitely not complaining about this, but why do you want to marry? I thought you would consider the Mark enough."

The Alpha's other hand rose up and his fingers trailed across Naruto's neck, lightly caressing the Mark which was half hidden underneath the shirt's collar. "I wanted to do it right," he murmured; his gaze distant. "We've Marked each other, but a marriage would make it complete. And I know you wanted to get married one day." He looked pointedly at the blond, who cleared his throat and glanced away.

He might have occasionally during his heats when he was basically high on Alpha pheromones exclaimed that besides the Mark he would also get a ring around Sasuke's finger one day if only to show all those jealous bitches Sasuke was truly off the market.

But that was neither here or there and he only had a vague recollection of those moments anyway. They could easily have been part of a dream, who knew?

"That and apparently the Mark alone isn't enough, so hopefully with a ring around your finger they'll back off," Sasuke added, scowling for some reason.

"They?" Naruto repeated blankly. "Who are they?"

The dark haired man threw him a scathing look. "Those idiots who don't seem to understand that you carrying my Mark means you're off limits," he growled.

"Still don't know who you're talking about," Naruto said, popping his lips. "Seriously who are these supposed idiots?"

People had been flirting with him? When? And who? He couldn't recall one instance in which someone had been flirting with him. Literally none. He could, however, recall very clearly every damn moment a girl or sometimes a guy had started flirting with Sasuke, even when Naruto had been standing right next to him, holding hands.

Seriously, what had he been missing?

"Like hell I'm going to tell you," Sasuke snorted and turned off the lamp, blanketing them in darkness. "You don't need to worry about them."

"I'm not worried about them, I'm just curious," Naruto huffed, shuffling down underneath the sheets. He poked Sasuke's chest. "Come on, tell me. If I got to chase off girls who bother you, you can tell me who's supposedly flirting with me."

"You carry my Mark and you're getting married to me, I don't see why you need to know who those bastards are," Sasuke said dismissively and huffed annoyed, drawing Naruto closer to him, tangling their legs together.

"Please, like anyone can make me look twice when I've got you," Naruto snorted and he didn't need any light to know that Sasuke was looking smug right now. "But I still want to know!"

"If you never noticed it, I'm not going to enlighten you," Sasuke muttered and tightened his embrace for a couple of seconds. His mouth found Naruto's in the dark for a soft kiss. "Go to sleep. Your mum will probably want to start planning the wedding tomorrow and you're going to need the rest."

Naruto groaned, pressing his face into Sasuke's shoulder. "Eugh, don't think you'll be able to escape if she starts. If I have to suffer, you need to as well."

"For better or for worse, right?"

Yeah, he could practically hear him smirking right now. Naruto pinched his thigh in response.

* * *

"Damn it, I owe that arsehole money now," Kiba grumbled, staring balefully at Naruto's ring.

"Language, dog-face," Naruto hissed and kicked his leg while covering Itachi's innocent ears. "What are you even talking about?"

It was three days into the new academic year and Kiba and Shikamaru had shown up for a visit – and in Kiba's case to bemoan the amount of work his professors had already given him.

It had taken them a bit before they'd noticed the new addition on Naruto's fingers and Kiba had nearly fallen off the couch when he'd realised what exactly the ring meant.

"Neji and I had a bet going on when either one of you would propose," Kiba muttered, looking away while the tips of his ears grew red. "I said there was no way a proposal would happen before you two had graduated and he said it would happen before that. Couldn't you have waited one more year? He's going to be an insufferable twit about it now!"

"You bet on my relationship?!" Naruto exclaimed outraged and shushed Itachi when he started crying startled. "Oh no, sweetheart, everything's okay. Daddy just got a bit mad at his stupid friend."

"What's going on here?" Sasuke stepped into the living room, frowning. The empty hamper he'd used to carry their clothes to the bedroom was put on the floor.

"That genius here bet on our relationship with Hyuuga! On when we would propose!" Naruto pointed a finger accusingly at Kiba, who threw up his hands in the air. "Can you believe that shit?"

"Did you win or lose the bet?" Sasuke asked, arching an eyebrow.

"I lost." Kiba glowered, crossing his arms. "But I would have won if you'd just waited one more year!"

"Good, knowing him you just lost a lot of money." Sasuke nodded satisfied and turned around. "You want another lemonade, Naruto?"

"Yeah, sure, and get me those new biscuits too," Naruto said, smiling down at Itachi whose crying was subduing into some sniffles. "There we go, all better again."

He looked up and scowled at Kiba. "Seriously, dude, betting on my relationship? What gives, man?"

The Beta man shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. "I was kind of drunk when I agreed to the bet," he admitted. "There was a gathering of the family last year and I went there with Hinata-chan. I got cornered by him and we started talking about our old classmates. He asked whether you two were still a couple and well, somehow that led to the bet."

"You're an absolute disgrace," Naruto informed him and huffed.

"Ah come on, man, it's not like I proposed the bet."

"No, but you went along with it. Does Hinata-chan know about this?"

Kiba shuddered. "God no. I'd be in the doghouse for sure!"

The blond stood up. "Good, next time you piss me off, guess who's going to find out what her boyfriend and her cousin got up to at the family gathering?" he smiled evilly.

Shikamaru chuckled when Kiba paled rapidly. "What? No, you can't do that to me!"

"That all depends on you, dog-face," Naruto hummed and then went to look for Sasuke, because it was his turn to change Itachi's diaper now.

* * *

The next weeks flew by in a rush of studying, taking care of Itachi, visits from their friends including Deidara and the occasional call from mum who wanted their opinion on something for the wedding.

They'd agreed early on that they would wait with the actual wedding until they'd graduated, so that they could focus on their classes instead of spending most of their time planning a wedding. That didn't mean mum hadn't started making plans already, though, over the moon as she was that her baby boy was getting married soon!

Naruto didn't mind that she was already doing some preparations. Truth be told he had no clue how to organise a wedding, so he was more than happy to let her take the reigns over this. At least then he could be sure nothing would get messed up.

Spring slowly went over in summer and with it the temperatures steadily rose until it felt like they were being cooked alive if they remained in the sun for too long. Naruto's online studying was an absolute godsend now; he could stay all the day in the apartment with its delicious cool air conditioning if he wanted to and didn't need to feel like he would sweat right through his clothes just from stepping outside.

If he didn't already appreciate his online classes, Kiba's incessant bitching about sticking to chairs and swimming in his sweat would definitely do the trick.

* * *

Then the day had finally come. A day he'd created a countdown for three months ago, even if it had made Sasuke roll his eyes and snort.

He might have thought creating an actual countdown on the calendar was ridiculous, but who would benefit from it tonight as well? That's right, Sasuke. Naruto didn't think he would hear any complaints from the Alpha then!

"You're sure you don't mind?" he asked again, worrying his lower lip between his teeth.

Mum gave him a patient look. "Do I mind having my grandson sleep over at my house so that Minato and I can dote on him and spoil him and treat him like the little prince he is?" She quirked an eyebrow. "Don't be ridiculous, of course I don't mind. I was the one who suggested it, remember?"

"Yeah, I know, but still," he hesitated, looking down at Itachi. The seven month old baby looked back at him and grinned, smacking his hand against his chest. "What do you think, Itachi? Ready to spend the night at your grandparents' place?"

"Bah!"

That could either be positive or negative, but Naruto chose to accept it as a positive response considering the giggle that accompanied it.

"Everything will be fine, I promise," Mum said and her features softened.

"I know, but …" He blew out his next breath, shifting his weight from one leg to the other, while Itachi muttered something to himself. "I think … Maybe it's too soon still? Maybe we should wait until he's older. He's only seven months, maybe that's not old enough yet."

"Look, if you rather keep him with you, that's fine, but there's no shame in taking an evening off for yourself and Sasuke-kun, Naruto," she said, as always pinpointing his exact worry even if he couldn't explain himself well. "You need some time together as well, time spent as a couple and not only as parents. You're still young, you should enjoy yourself."

"But isn't seven months still too young?" He winced, letting Itachi grab his finger.

She shrugged and brushed her ponytail back over her shoulder. "You had your first sleepover at your grandma's place when you were a little past six months. I was told you enjoyed yourself immensely, though I'm sure you mostly slept anyway. In the end it's your call, honey. Your dad and I will be more than happy to take care of Itachi for a night if you want some alone time with Sasuke-kun."

"Well, I did promise Sasuke a surprise …" he mused thoughtfully and gazed down at his son, who stared back curiously.

Sasuke knew Itachi would have his very first sleepover tonight at his grandparents' place, though he didn't know for which occasion exactly. He probably thought Naruto just wanted one evening to relax together, which wasn't exactly wrong. Sasuke probably just had a slightly different version of relaxing in mind than Naruto had.

"All right, it's just one night," he decided and kissed Itachi's cheeks and forehead, smiling when that made the little boy giggle loudly. "Be good for your grandma and grandpa, okay? Papa and I will come pick you up in the morning."

Itachi squealed when he was lifted in the air and a nose rubbed his tummy. Naruto grinned and after several more kisses he felt ready enough to hand his baby over to his mum, who immediately started cooing at him.

"You and I are going to have a lot of fun together," she said and raised Itachi's left hand to wave it at Naruto. "Say bye daddy, I see you tomorrow!"

Itachi let out a stream of gibberish and Naruto laughed, bending closer to give him a kiss on his nose. "I'll see you tomorrow, sweetie, love you so much."

Mum gave him a warm hug before she left, carrying Itachi in his sling against her chest while a bag with all his stuff was thrown over her other shoulder. She waved at him again before stepping into the elevator and then they were both gone.

Leaving Naruto alone in the apartment for the first time since they'd brought Itachi home from Shizune's practice.

He swallowed and slowly closed the door before turning around and surveying the apartment. It was strangely quiet now; most of his neighbours still at work and the others not making much noise. Sasuke wasn't due to come home for another hour and he'd promised to stop by the ramen shop first to get some take out for the both of them.

It was odd to walk around now without Itachi in his arms or the baby asleep in his bed. Even when asleep, Naruto had still been aware of Itachi's presence; without him here the apartment felt suddenly a lot emptier.

Shaking his head, he clapped his hands and swiftly turned around, heading straight for the bathroom. He had some preparations left to do before Sasuke would return home.

He was already missing Itachi, but he was going to take full advantage of the free evening they had together. He hadn't started the countdown for nothing, after all.

* * *

"Did your mum say when we need to pick up Itachi?" Sasuke questioned, holding out the bowl he'd just cleaned to Naruto to dry off.

"Nah, I don't think it matters anyway," Naruto replied, stacking the bowl on top of the other one when it was dry. "She seemed very excited to have Itachi sleep over at their place, so I guess we can pick him up whenever we want tomorrow."

Sasuke hummed. "We'll pick him up around ten then."

"Sounds good to me."

After the dishes were done and put away, they went to the living room, switching off the light in the kitchen. The window was still open, allowing the sounds of the traffic in the surrounding streets to reach them, together with a slight breeze. After the hot summer's day they'd had, any breeze, no matter how light, was welcome, even with the air conditioning.

"You want to watch something?" Sasuke asked, getting comfortable on the couch and looking more relaxed than Naruto had expected.

To be honest, Naruto hadn't been certain whether suggesting that his parents take care of Itachi for one evening would be a good idea, given Sasuke's tendency to be overprotective. The screen was still present in the nursery, but Sasuke had been surprisingly easy about the whole sleep over thing. If he was freaking out about it, then he could hide that very well at least.

Or maybe his desire to have a quiet evening with Naruto trumped his worry about Itachi. Either one was possible.

"Actually," Naruto drawled and drew closer, settling down in Sasuke's lap. The Alpha almost automatically grabbed his hips; dark eyes studying him curiously. "I was thinking we could do something else."

"Oh?" Sasuke quirked an eyebrow. "What do you have in mind?"

In response, the blond retrieved the paper from the back pocket of his jeans and unfolded it, holding it out to him. "You know what this is?"

Black eyes flared with interest. "That's the countdown you started when you started taking your suppressants again a month ago," Sasuke murmured and his hands slipped underneath Naruto's shirt, palming his back.

"Yep," Naruto popped his lips and grinned, tapping the end of the page. "Guess what? The countdown is over. You know what that means?"

Sasuke smirked and relaxed against the back of the couch. "Enlighten me."

"That it's finally safe to do other fun stuff," Naruto murmured and bent down, leaning so close that his lips almost touched Sasuke's when he continued in a low voice, "Stuff that I've been looking forward to for quite a while now."

"Really now? And what kind of stuff are you thinking about?" A hand lazily wandered down, cupping one arse cheek.

"I was thinking of this," his hand pressed against Sasuke's groin and he smiled when he felt him twitch and starting to stiffen up, "in me. You've got no idea how much I missed having you in me, how long I've been waiting to have you fuck me," he purred in the Alpha's ear and his smile widened into a victorious grin when the other man growled and jerked against his grip.

"So that's why you suggested that sleepover for Itachi," Sasuke muttered, nosing the Omega's neck. He sucked lightly at the Mark at the same time he dipped a hand into the blond's jeans. He stilled when he encountered nothing but bare skin, no second barrier whatsoever, and when he pulled back and looked up, his pupils were visibly widening. "You're not wearing underwear," he remarked, voice thickening with lust.

"No, I'm not. You know something else?" He unzipped his jeans, creating more room, and grabbed Sasuke's hand, pushing it deeper into his jeans, lifting his arse up a bit.

Fingers brushed across his cheeks, briefly digging into the supple flesh, before they dipped between them. Even if he hadn't been able to feel it, Naruto knew the exact second Sasuke encountered the plug he'd used, because the man stiffened and a snarl escaped him before he grabbed Naruto's hair with his other hand and forcefully tugged him down, kissing him hungrily.

A moan escaped him and Naruto pressed himself closer against Sasuke, whining softly when he felt fingers tugging at the plug. The plug wasn't nearly as big as Sasuke's dick, but it did a well enough job of stretching him decently and to be quite frank, he'd been looking forward to this evening for weeks, so he didn't want to waste a second longer preparing himself. So what would any other self-respecting, horny Omega do when they wanted to be fucked by their gorgeous, sexy mate?

Right, use a plug to stretch themselves properly.

Never let it be said that Naruto didn't take his preparations for a fun evening with his mate seriously.

"How long have you been walking around with this?" Sasuke asked, pulling back so they could breathe. He'd grasped the end of the plug and started slowly pumping it in and out; his eyes dark with intent.

"A-around two hours or so," Naruto replied, his breath hitching. He clasped his arms around Sasuke's neck, rolling his hips back and forth. He bit his lip when the plug nudged against his sensitive spot briefly, sending a spark of pleasure through him. "Didn't – didn't want to wait to get prepared." He took a shuddering breath, clenching his eyes shut when a slender finger slipped right next to the plug; his entrance burning a bit before it relaxed around the new intrusion.

He could feel himself becoming wetter; slick lining his inner walls and drops of precum collecting at the tip of his dick, absorbed by Sasuke's shirt when he rubbed himself against him. Sasuke's own erection was digging against him; the impressive bulge making Naruto lick his lips when he glanced down.

"Always so impatient," Sasuke murmured and abruptly pulled his hand back.

A yelp was torn out of him when Sasuke suddenly rose up, his hands linked underneath his arse. Naruto hastened to wrap his legs around the Alpha's waist and couldn't stop himself from rolling his hips against him, creating some much needed delicious friction. The plug was still inside of him and he clenched around it, panting. It wasn't enough, though. What he really needed was –

"If my Omega is so good as to prepare himself for me, I really should award that, shouldn't I?"

_Oh god_. There was definitely slick dripping past the plug now, his stomach muscles clenching with those words spoking in a dark promise. That voice always got to him, no matter how many times he would hear it.

And Sasuke knew. The smirk that unfolded across his reddened lips was darker still, full of sin, and his eyes darkened as he swiftly carried Naruto to their bedroom, dumping him on the bed before crawling between his spread legs, preventing him from leaving the bed.

Like hell was he going to leave now, though. Not when he was finally going to get what he'd been waiting for, for quite a while now.

_His Alpha inside of him. Finally._

* * *

His clothes were swiftly discarded on the floor, together with those of Sasuke, and for one short moment Naruto felt insecure as he laid there completely naked, vulnerable underneath burning black eyes.

He'd lost basically all the extra weight he'd gained during his pregnancy – thanks the gods for his fast metabolism – but there were still faint stretchmarks visible on his stomach and he couldn't help but feel insecure now that he was completely naked for the first time in months in front of Sasuke again.

His stretchmarks bothered him, but they apparently didn't bother Sasuke because when he created a line of kisses starting from Naruto's neck down his chest, he didn't skip his stomach. On the contrary, he paused and sucked at a spot of skin right underneath his bellybutton, no doubt leaving a bruise behind. It made Naruto shudder underneath him and he clenched his hands around Sasuke's shoulders, feeling firm muscles shift underneath his touch when the Alpha looked up.

"You're gorgeous," Sasuke said, his voice thick and he braced himself on his arms when he rose up to catch Naruto's mouth in a breath stealing kiss.

The compliment made him glow despite his insecurities and he returned the kiss with equal enthusiasm, pressing himself closer against Sasuke; warm smooth skin gliding against his own. He gasped when the plug was suddenly pulled out of him, but he didn't have time to feel empty. His eyes rolled back when Sasuke swiftly entered him and he groaned, his fingers scrabbling at Sasuke's back as he tried to adjust to the thick length filling him up completely.

Sasuke was definitely a lot bigger than the plug had been.

"God, you feel good," Sasuke groaned in his ear and tangled their hands together, pressing them into the pillow next to Naruto's head. "Hold on," he growled and pulled back before slamming inside again, eliciting a shout from the Omega when his sweet spot was struck dead on.

Fuck, he'd almost forgotten how accurate Sasuke's aim was!

What followed next was probably one of the best fucking Naruto had experienced; something he honestly hadn't thought was possible because the sex had always been amazing, but Sasuke seemed to exceed himself every time – something Naruto could only encourage. The Alpha's thrusts were forceful and deep, more often than not striking his hidden spot dead on, sending pleasure rushing through him, heat pooling in the pit of his stomach.

It didn't take Sasuke long to turn him into a babbling mess, whimpers and moans and pleas of " _Sasuke, faster, har-harder, yes, there, fuck, fuck!_ " filling the room, making a distant part in him happy that he'd thought of giving Itachi to his mum, because there was no way for him to keep silent, not with how amazing it felt to feel Sasuke inside of him again after all those months of waiting.

Sasuke had used his fingers on him before, of course, but they just couldn't compare to his dick, which made Naruto feel completely filled, touching all the right spots inside of him. Since the very first beginning when they'd started messing around, Sasuke had known which spots to hit, which places to touch, where to kiss to drive Naruto absolutely wild and this time was no different.

All he could do was hold on, kiss back between gasping for air, and let the pleasure carry him away until it all became too much and he could no longer hold back.

His vision exploded with white when he came, spurting between their stomachs, and he bit down on Sasuke's shoulder, muffling his scream as his body shook and trembled; his legs tightening high around Sasuke's waist. His feet locked behind Sasuke's arse and pressed down on him, forcing him deep inside the blond and Sasuke moaned his approval shakily.

Sasuke came in him not long after that, his face buried in Naruto's neck and his one hand clenched tightly around the Omega's hip; his hips stuttering against Naruto's arse. Naruto kept his arms loosely wrapped around Sasuke's shoulders and only lowered his legs when Sasuke looked up, his breathing haggard; sweat making black bangs stick against his forehead.

His bones felt like they had been switched out for rubber when Naruto dropped down on the bed, his arse wouldn't thank him tomorrow morning and he was pretty sure that if he tried to stand up now, his knees would buckle underneath him before he could even take one step forwards. He was exhausted, sticky, sweaty, but oh so damn _satisfied_ at the same time.

"This was definitely worth the wait," Naruto rasped, blinking up at the ceiling as he panted.

Sasuke rolled off him and onto the bed next to him, covering his eyes with his forearm, humming in agreement.

"Aren't you glad I made that countdown?"

In response Sasuke simply smacked his thigh before pulling him in a deep kiss and herding him into the shower so they could clean up.

They ended up taking a long shower to _thoroughly_ clean each other. And then another one when Sasuke cornered him in the shower and got the both of them dirty all over again.

_Yeah, definitely worth the wait._

* * *

After the first time Itachi had a couple more sleepovers with his grandparents. These particular sleepovers lasted for three days each time now, because with Naruto having stopped breastfeeding and being back on suppressants, his heats had returned as well, leaving him and Sasuke basically bedbound for three days (or bathroom bound, or couch bound or even kitchen table bound that one time in August because Naruto hadn't been able to wait and had jumped Sasuke after spotting the man shirtless at the sink).

With the heat pheromones fogging their brains, they were worried they wouldn't be able to react immediately if Itachi needed them, so whenever Naruto's heat was about to start now, Itachi went to stay with his grandparents.

Sure, there were babysitting services that specialised in taking care of children whose parents were sharing their heat, but Naruto didn't feel comfortable leaving his son behind in the care of a stranger. The only issue was that after a couple of months, he started to feel guilty for having to ask his parents to take care of Itachi. Mum and dad reassured him over and over again that they didn't mind, and he knew they didn't, because they adored their grandson and loved doting on him, but that didn't lessen his guilt.

The problem was: who else could he ask? He liked Kiba and Shikamaru, but he could hardly call Kiba responsible – at least not responsible enough to take care of his baby for three full days – and Shikamaru had taken on an extra degree, so his schedule was too full to add taking care of a baby to that.

Sasuke had placed his foot down on asking Kakashi to look after Itachi and Naruto knew better than to try to press him on that. He could push him on a lot of things, but he could already foresee the explosive fight he would have with Sasuke if he dared to bring Itachi to Kakashi and that just wasn't worth it. (That and he wasn't exactly sure whether he could trust Kakashi to pay full attention to Itachi instead of diving it between the baby and his books.)

That left them with nobody else to ask.

"The rain's not going to let up any time soon, huh?" Deidara muttered, frowning when he looked outside.

October had announced itself with streaming rain and howling wind, bringing autumn in the country abruptly. The temperatures had dropped down drastically, a stark contrast to the blazing hot summer they had had, and Naruto had been forced to dug up his thick sweaters – the kind normally reserved for the winter – already.

"No, the forecast mentioned rain for the entire day until well in the night," Naruto replied and smiled when Itachi took a couple of wobbly steps to him. "Can you take a couple of steps more, Itachi, hm? Can you do that for me, sweetie?"

Itachi looked up and giggled, lifting his right foot before placing it down carefully. His hand was resting on the couch, using it as a crutch to help him along.

He'd started taking his first steps three weeks ago. He'd been on his playmat while Sasuke and Naruto had been studying on the couch. When Naruto had turned to check on him, he'd seen him pulling himself up against the couch, taking one step before falling back down on his butt. Their homework had been quickly abandoned in favour of encouraging Itachi to take his first real steps, helping him along by supporting him around his waist.

"Man, hard to believe he was just crawling around a month ago, un," Deidara smiled and came back to the couch, chuckling when Itachi bumped into his leg and blinked up at him. "You're doing so well, Itachi-kun! Look at what a big boy you are already!"

That had Itachi giggling louder, his small hands grasping at Deidara's knees. Deidara grabbed them gently and spread his legs, so he could help Itachi step closer to the couch.

"Before you know it, he's going to run around like crazy," Deidara chuckled, watching Itachi look down at his feet, lifting them up and placing them down repeatedly.

"Yeah, Sasuke already went around to babyproof the apartment completely," Naruto smiled, holding his arms out and bending lower when Itachi turned to look at him. "You're coming to daddy now, Itachi? Or are you going to stay with Deidara-jisan?"

Itachi hummed, his head swivelling back and forth between them as if he was considering the question seriously before he huffed and waddled the remaining distance to Naruto, falling against his legs when he reached him.

"There's my little prince!" Naruto cooed and lifted him on his lap, kissing his forehead.

Itachi grinned, snuggling into Naruto's chest.

"I can't get over how cute he is, un," Deidara sighed, his hands dangling between his legs. "He just seems to grow cuter every time I see him."

"He really is a cutie, huh?" Naruto agreed grinning, stroking the fine black hair. Itachi hummed and closed his eyes. Blue eyes flicked at the older blond. "Have you and Sasori-san ever thought of having children?"

The way Deidara's smile changed from content to one brimming with pure happiness had Naruto sitting up straighter. "What?"

"It's, er, it's still a bit early, but I'm pregnant, un," Deidara admitted, his hand drifting down to cover his stomach.

"Oh my god, that's amazing!" Naruto gasped and leant forwards to clutch Deidara's wrist. "Congratulations! How far along are you?"

"Nearly two months," Deidara answered bashfully; a blond lock covering his eye before he brushed it away. "We were planning on keeping quiet about it for a bit longer, just in case, you know?"

"I get it," Naruto nodded and smiled reassuringly. "I won't tell anyone, I promise."

"You can tell Sasuke-kun if you want to, I don't mind. Honestly I'm too happy about it," Deidara laughed. "Sasori and I found out last month; we celebrated the whole weekend!"

"Is the baby planned? Or a surprise? I'm sorry, that's none of my business," Naruto hurried to say when his brain caught up to his brain and he winced. He hadn't made a secret of it that Itachi had been an accident – a happy accident as he turned out to be, but an accident nonetheless – but that didn't mean he could pry into Deidara's business about it.

"I don't mind. The baby's planned," Deidara smiled. "We've been discussing it for a while and around three months ago we decided to go for it. Honestly being around Itachi made me want one of my own, un. We're not getting younger, so why wait any longer?"

"You're going to be an amazing dad," Naruto said warmly and Deidara blushed, clearing his throat.

"Well, I'm certainly going to try my best, un."

His phone buzzing on the coffee table startled them both and Itachi stirred, uttering a dismayed noise.

"Here, I'll take him for a bit," Deidara suggested and lifted Itachi off Naruto's lap so he could pick up his phone and accept the call.

"Hey mum, you're on a break?" he greeted, crossing his ankles. He probably should get back to his own studying soon, come to think of it.

"A short one," Mum said. "I actually just got off the phone with the dressing shop. Are you and Sasuke-kun free next week to go try on your wedding suits?"

"Er, we should be. I think we can make the time at least," he replied and tapped his lip. "Does it have to be on a specific day?"

"No, just let me know when you're free and then I can set up the appointment with the shop. Keep in mind that the appointment will probably take up to two or three hours. At best," she added rather ominously.

"Isn't three hours a tad much?" he asked uncertainly, grimacing. He wasn't really in the mood to try on suits for three hours straight.

"Not if we want to find the perfect one for you and Sasuke-kun," she said affably. "That reminds me – in two weeks you've got your heat, right? You want your dad and I to take care of Itachi?"

"If you don't mind," he said begrudgingly and rubbed his forehead. "I haven't been able to find someone else we can trust with Itachi, sorry."

"Honey, I told you before that we don't mind. We love Itachi; it's not exactly a hardship for us to take care of him," she chided gently. She then sighed. "Sorry, I've got to go back. We're a bit undermanned at the moment. Text me with the day you're free for the dressing appointment. Kiss Itachi for me, okay? Love you!"

"Love you too, mum," he said and hung up.

"You're looking for a babysit, un?" Deidara asked curiously, sweeping his long hair out of the reach of grabby hands.

"Sort of," Naruto grimaced, discarding his phone back on the table. "I've got my heat coming up in two weeks and we're looking for someone to take care of Itachi during those three days. My parents have been looking after him for the past couple of months, but I'm starting to feel guilty. They've still got their own work, after all. I know they don't mind, but." He rolled his shoulders and sighed.

Deidara nibbled on his lip, letting Itachi tug and slap at his hand softly. "I could babysit him if you'd like?" he offered hesitatingly.

Naruto stared at him wide-eyed. "You would want to do that?" he asked amazed.

"Well, yeah, if you don't mind, un. I live closer than your parents anyway and I can use the practice for my own little one," he said brightly. "So what do you think?"

"Honestly that would be great," Naruto admitted. "You're sure you're up for it? It'd be three days and while Itachi has been behaving rather well at his grandparents' place, his teeth are starting to come through, so he might get cranky. Would Sasori-san be okay with it?"

"He won't mind," Deidara reassured him. "He might even appreciate the practice, because he's not used to being around children. This way he can get a preview already, un." He winked.

"All right," Naruto laughed. "I'll talk to Sasuke about it, see what he thinks. I doubt he'll say no, though."

"I won't be offended if he doesn't like the idea. Just figured I'd make the offer, un."

"I'll talk to him about it when he gets home," Naruto promised.

He didn't think Sasuke would make a fuss about it, though. He'd never made a problem of Deidara holding Itachi, while it had taken Kiba around three months before Sasuke had allowed him to hold the baby – and even then the Alpha had watched him like a hawk. The fact that Deidara lived nearby would help a lot as well.

Honestly they wouldn't find a better alternative than Deidara. At least with the older blond Sasuke wouldn't have any issues.

* * *

"Itachi finally fell asleep," Sasuke groaned and let himself fall on the bed, obviously tired.

"I think he's teething again," Naruto muttered, leaving the door of the bathroom ajar. He shuffled around the bed, hiding a yawn behind his hand. The wind was still howling outside, but the rain had petered out a bit.

"Probably," Sasuke agreed and rose up again to throw the blanket back. He'd already done his business in the bathroom before Naruto, so that he could put Itachi to sleep.

It was barely ten o'clock, but they were calling it an early night just in case Itachi woke up crying again, like last night.

"Oh yeah, mum called today," Naruto remembered, crawling into the bed. "Asked me to let her know when we have a free moment next week so she can make an appointment at the dress shop for our wedding suits."

"I'll check my schedule tomorrow," Sasuke muttered. "Did you tell Deidara he can look after Itachi when your heat starts?"

"No, I'm planning on doing that tomorrow. My phone needs to charge; it barely had any battery left." Naruto turned on his side, facing Sasuke, and pecked him on his lips. "Okay, here's to hoping Itachi's tooth won't bother him too much."

"We can only hope," Sasuke muttered against his lips before giving him a firmer kiss. "Good night."

"Hm, good night."

They shuffled around until Naruto ended up with his back pressed against Sasuke's chest and their hands linked loosely over Naruto's stomach. They fell asleep to the pitter-patter sound of the rain against the window.

* * *

The sound of a phone buzzing and ringing loudly jarred him out of his sleep and Naruto shot up, staring blankly at the wardrobe for a couple of seconds while his brain scrambled to wake up fully. Next to him Sasuke started to stir and that was what made him realise that his phone was still ringing, the noise piercing straight through the peaceful silence.

A couple of seconds later Itachi started to wail in his nursery, most likely woken up by the phone as well.

"Shit," Naruto cursed, rubbing briskly over his face.

Sasuke squeezed his shoulder and sleepily stumbled out of the bed after turning on the lamp on his nightstand. "I'll check up on him, you see who's calling you at – two o'clock in the morning, fuck," he groaned and scowled. "If it's Inuzuka, tell him I'm going to rip off his balls and stuff them through his throat for waking us up."

"I'll be right at your side when you do it," Naruto said darkly and twisted around to grab his phone, which still hadn't stopped ringing. Whoever was calling him at this ungodly hour surely seemed to think it was urgent.

If it was Kiba, he would help Sasuke hold the fucker down.

Sasuke disappeared into the hallway, blending in with the darkness and Naruto checked the screen of his phone.

It wasn't Kiba. It was mum. Why would she call him at two o'clock in the morning? There was no reason for her to do that, unless …

With trepidation he accepted the call and sat up in bed. "Mum?"

"Naruto, I …" she broke off and it took him a couple of seconds to realise that she was _crying_.

"Mum?" he asked worriedly, his stomach cramping. "What's wrong? What happened?"

She said something, but she was crying so badly he had a hard time figuring out what exactly she was trying to tell him. His heart skipped a beat before it started beating quicker and dread quickly pooled into his stomach.

_Something was wrong_. Very wrong. Something bad had happened. He just knew it.

"M-mum, I can't understand you," he said, mouth drying up. The back of his neck pricked with heat and he started shivering for some reason, even though he was still underneath the blanket and wasn't cold at all.

"Na-Naruto, it's – it's your dad."

"What about dad? Mum, what happened?"

Ice filled his veins when she told him brokenly, " _He – he got shot._ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN2: *evil laugh* And here some of you thought you had to worry about Orochimaru, huh? Yes, I really ended it like this. Keep an eye on the warnings next chapter - there's going to be a new one added ...
> 
> Please leave your thoughts behind in a review, tell me how much you hate me for leaving it like this :D I hope to see you all back in the next chapter!
> 
> Cuddles
> 
> Melissa


	20. Adjusting Part 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: What's this? An early update? :O This may or may not be a good thing LMAO Be wary when I update on time … For bad things may or may not be happening in the chapter ...
> 
> Thanks for the kudos and the comments!
> 
> Warnings: angst; character death; mature content
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
> 
> I hope you'll like it!

_20 Adjusting Part 4_

He couldn't remember much of what happened after the call ended. He thought that Sasuke had taken over the phone at some point, because next thing he knew, he looked up and found himself in the car, Itachi strapped into his seat behind him, and Sasuke practically flooring it as he drove them to the hospital.

The hospital where his dad had been admitted just over an hour ago. Where he was now fighting for his life after having got shot.

A lump blocked his throat and his eyes stung fiercely, but remained dry and he stared unseeingly outside. It was the middle of the night, pitch black; the darkness only broken up by the lights of the cars on the road and the streetlamps lined up on each side of them, casting pools of light orange on the asphalt.

There weren't many cars on the road and the silence blanketing the world felt alien. It started raining softly and it was that sound, the steady _plick, plick, plick_ on the roof of the car that finally made him stir.

"My dad's in the hospital," he rasped. His voice felt scratchy, as if he'd been screaming for hours. Which was ridiculous, because he hadn't screamed at all.

"I know," Sasuke murmured; his gaze fixated on the lane in front of them. "We're going to him and your mum now."

"I can't – what if he … He got shot," Naruto uttered faintly. He was starting to feel light-headed and just felt weird in general. Like he was both too heavy and too light at the same time. Like he could drift away any moment now, while he was too heavy to even move an inch.

_Dad was shot._

What if he … What if he didn't … He shied away from the thought; his chest hurting.

"I'm here," Sasuke said and there was a warm hand settling over his own, squeezing his hand softly.

Naruto clung to the hand the whole drive there, letting it anchor him. It was the only thing that still made sense in the nightmare he was currently experiencing.

Except – it wasn't a nightmare. You could wake up from a nightmare and relax.

You couldn't wake up from real life.

* * *

"Naruto." Mum embraced him tightly as soon as he set foot on the third floor.

He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her desperately back; her flaming red hair brushing against his face when he buried his face in her neck. All of a sudden he wasn't nearly twenty-one years old anymore, but a seven year old kid who'd just been told that his dad had been in a fight and had been hurt badly enough to need the hospital. He'd been stabbed in his side, but fortunately the wound hadn't been as severe as they had thought and he'd been able to return home that very same day.

But Naruto could still remember the paralysing fear that had taken hold of him when he'd been told his dad had got hurt and he'd spent the entire time until they'd been allowed to see dad curled up in his mum's lap.

This was the same as back then, only _worse_.

Because dad had been shot and not stabbed and they'd been operating on him for an hour already. Because mum was close to breaking down in his arms, a state he'd never seen her in before, not even when dad had been stabbed, and that meant that things were _bad. Very bad_.

"Have you – did the surgeon come out yet?" he asked, pulling back slightly; feeling a tremor going through mum's body.

She suddenly felt tiny and frail against him; like if he touched her in the wrong way, she'd shatter apart and disappear.

"No, they – they haven't told me anything yet," she replied, voice trembling, and she hastily wiped over her eyes.

She was still dressed in her police uniform, which meant that she had been assigned the night shift. Had dad been put on the same shift?

She looked over his shoulder and offered a shaky smile to Sasuke, who'd been standing quietly behind them with a sleeping Itachi in his arms. "I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun. I'm usually a lot more put together than this."

"Don't worry about it," he murmured; his dark eyes unreadable. "You've got other things on your mind; nobody will think less of you."

She blinked and nodded, drying her eyes with a handkerchief. "Come on; no sense in keeping standing here in the middle of the hallway." She led them deeper into the corridor, where some blue, plastic chairs had been placed against the wall.

"Wh-what happened?" Naruto finally dared to ask once they'd all sat down. Mum was on his left while Sasuke was on his right. Itachi was sleeping in his grandmother's arms, blissfully unaware of what was happening right now.

Naruto wished he could be as oblivious as his son.

Mum pursed her lips together before releasing her breath slowly. "Minato wasn't even supposed to be there. I'd been put on the nightshift, but he'd been given the night off, because he'd been pulling several nightshifts these past two weeks."

She took Itachi's hand between her fingers and softly rubbed her thumb over the back of his little fist. Itachi wrinkled his nose slightly, but remained asleep, cradled in the nook of her elbow. "As it turned out, I wasn't supposed to be scheduled for this shift either, but there had been a mix-up somewhere."

A nurse hurried past them with a clipboard in her hand.

"So one of our colleagues was called to replace me and I texted your dad that I would be home sooner. He offered to come pick me up, because I'd left the car at home." She took a shuddering breath. "Minato arrived and right when I was making my way down the steps of the precinct, some men who'd been causing trouble before appeared in front of the building. They started making a ruckus, started shouting and right when I was radioing for back-up, one of them pointed a gun at me."

Naruto could only stare in horror at her.

"And the next thing I knew, Minato was suddenly in front of me, that guy fired his gun and – and he hit Minato. He – he shot Minato." She started crying silently; the tears slowly dripping down her cheeks.

"An ambulance was called, they loaded Minato inside and the only thing they could tell me is that they were going to do their best, but that he's very critical." She laughed bitterly. "And we both know what that particular doctor talk usually means."

He didn't want to know. Couldn't even contemplate it. "What – happened with that guy? The one who sh- sho- " His lips grew numb, refusing to work anymore and Sasuke grasped his hand tightly.

When mum looked up, the look in her eyes was hard and fierce in spite of her tear streaked face. "I shot that son of a bitch. But not to disable him," she said coldly.

A shiver ran down his spine. "You did the right thing." He didn't care if other people would think she'd gone too far. His dad had been shot for no reason whatsoever – people who didn't agree with her actions could get fucked.

"Did I, though?" she asked hollowly and looked down at Itachi. "If I'd been quicker to get into the car, Minato wouldn't have got hurt. If I had called for back-up faster, Minato wouldn't have needed to get involved. If I had just been faster, he – he - "

"It's not your fault, mum," he said firmly, even when tears began stinging the back of his eyes. "None of what happened was your fault."

"Maybe," she said quietly. "All I know is that Minato's the one in the operating room now when he should never have been there to begin with."

He didn't know what to say to that, so he just stayed quiet and gripped her hand.

* * *

He drifted somewhere between sleep and consciousness; the late hour of the night and the abrupt awakening catching up to him slowly. He was resting with his head on Sasuke's shoulder; his hand clasped between the Alpha's. Mum was wandering back and forth with Itachi in her arms. The little boy was murmuring; he remained rather quiet as if he could feel something was amiss.

Naruto eventually lost the battle to keep his eyes at least half open and let them fall shut, drifting in a haze.

"I'm glad you're here, Sasuke-kun," Mum murmured, coming to a halt somewhere near them.

"Of course I'm here," Sasuke said quietly. "Where else would I be?"

"I wouldn't have blamed you if you'd rather not be here now. I'm sure Naruto wouldn't either, given what happened to you."

"What happened to me has nothing to do with me being here for him. He's my mate and he needs me; I'm not going to leave him," he said and he started caressing the back of Naruto's hand. "I appreciate your concern, Kushina, but it's unnecessary. My family was dead long before they could get any help; I never had to sit through all this waiting like Naruto has to now."

She uttered a soft noise as if to disagree, but said, "I'm still glad you're here. I'm glad Naruto has someone like you as his mate."

He shifted almost minuscule. "I'd say it's more the other way around: I'm grateful to have Naruto in my life."

She started walking again; her heels clicking softly against the tiled floor. The steady rhythm brought Naruto closer to sleep, even if he wanted to remain awake enough to hear the rest of the conversation.

"I never told anyone this, but I've been worrying about Naruto for years," Mum started suddenly. "I'd lay awake at night and wonder what would happen to him if something happened to us both. I'm sure every parent worries about that, that you and Naruto worry the same about Itachi, but our job brings an extra level of danger."

Her breath caught for a moment and she was silent. When she spoke next, her voice was thick. "I'll never stop worrying about him, no matter how old he is, but I know he's safe with you. I know that if something happens to us that you'll take care of him."

"Of course I will," Sasuke immediately replied. "But you don't give him enough credit. He's stronger than you think."

She let out a breathy laugh, but whatever she said next was lost when sleep claimed Naruto completely.

* * *

Someone shook his shoulder insistently and he woke up with a groan. Still foggy with sleep, he opened his eyes and blinked. The sight of a doctor, a greying man with baby blue eyes, waiting a few feet away sent a shock through him, instantly chasing away the last remnants of sleep and he shot up.

"Do you have news about my dad?" he asked, heart thundering in his chest, as he stumbled upright.

Sasuke followed swiftly, standing closely next to him, while mum hovered on his other side with Itachi asleep against her shoulder. She looked as white as a sheet, her eyes bloodshot, and he grasped her free hand tightly.

The doctor's face looked withdrawn with fatigue and tension and he took a deep breath. "We just finished the operation on Namikaze-san. It was a complicated one and he fought with everything he had, but – I'm sorry. We did everything we could, but he didn't make it."

It was like he was dunked underneath water; all the sounds abruptly becoming muted. He stared at the doctor, saw his lips move as he explained what exactly had gone wrong, but he couldn't hear him.

_His dad was gone._

The words bounced back and forth in his head; disbelief and grief and anger battling each other all at once as he tried to wrap his head around what he'd just been told.

This couldn't be true, right? There was no way his dad had died! That just couldn't be true!

Dad had always been strong and he had survived being stabbed – there way no way some arsehole shooting him had been the end of him. That just couldn't have happened.

Any second now he would wake up, he was sure, because this could be nothing but a horrible nightmare; an awful nightmare that he'd really like to wake up from, any second now, please, please …

"Naruto, I'm sorry," Sasuke whispered; his dark eyes bright with unshed tears and Naruto stared at him, looked at the doctor who wore a sympathetic face and then looked at mum, who stood there in shock, clutching Itachi against her as if he was her only lifeline left.

"Da-dad's dead?" Naruto brought out in disbelief. "That – that can't be true, right? You're joking or mistaken or - "

"I'm sorry, Uzumaki-san, but unfortunately your father passed away." The man bowed.

"N-no, you're lying. You have to be lying!" Naruto said desperately, stumbling backwards. That had to be it, the doctor had to be lying, because there was no way, no way –

Strong arms wrapped tightly around him and pressed him against a taut body. "I'm here, I got you, I got you," Sasuke whispered in his ear; his own voice strangled.

Naruto froze in his embrace, the urge to pull away and escape growing, but Sasuke kept whispering in his ear, kept telling him he was sorry, that he had him, _you've got me, I promise, I'm not leaving you, I'm here,_ his hand rubbing over his back and he broke.

There, right in the middle of the hospital hallway, he screamed.

_Dad was gone._

* * *

He jerked awake and almost crashed onto the floor; his heart beating like mad in his chest. He caught himself just in time and swallowed, a shiver going through him even though he wasn't cold.

"Naruto?"

Sasuke's concerned tone had him twisting around in the chair and – chair? What was he doing in a chair? Where was he? Frantically he looked around and stilled when he recognised the boring beige walls and eggshell coloured floor.

He was still at the hospital. Where dad had …

"Are you crying?" Sasuke asked alarmed and reached out to brush his tears away.

Naruto stared at him, watching concern growing on the Alpha's face before he glanced away and spotted mum leaning against the wall, soothing Itachi back to sleep.

"Mum? Dad – he - "

He shut up when a door ten feet further opened and a man in bloodied scrubs stepped out. He could only stare as the man approached them with a grave face. Why was he approaching them? They'd already been told the devastating news, there was no reason for yet another doctor –

"Uzumaki-san?" The doctor looked a bit uncertainly as his gaze switched between the two Uzumaki and the black haired Alpha.

"Yes?" Mum's lower lip trembled, but the step she took forwards was steady and her eyes clear and bright despite the late hour.

How late was it even?

"We've just finished the surgery on your husband," the man started and Naruto flinched, his eyes widening.

What the hell was going on? Hadn't they had already this conversation before?

"There were some complications, but the operation ended well and he should do a completely recovery," the doctor smiled. "We're going to bring him to another room now and keep him under observation, but he's stable for now."

"Wait, he's not – he's not dead?" Naruto murmured dazed and shook his head, rubbing his forehead. But he'd been so sure that the doctor earlier had come to tell them dad had died! "But didn't a doctor earlier come by to tell us dad had died?"

"Nobody came. We've been waiting here all this time," Sasuke said and furrowed his eyebrows. "You were asleep for a while; did you have a nightmare?"

"This is real, right? Dad's really not dead?" he questioned instead, his heart beating faster; hope unfurling slowly.

"Minato survived!" Mum laughed through her tears and after handing Itachi to Sasuke, she hugged Naruto tightly. "He's still alive, sweetheart! He pulled through!"

Naruto pinched his arm just to be certain, and yeah, that fucking hurt, so that meant … That meant …

He hugged her back and buried his face in her hair; her embrace the only thing still keeping him upright instead of collapsing on the ground in sheer relief.

_Dad wasn't dead._

Dad had pulled through. His dad was going to wake up soon and get better and everything was going to be all right again.

_Everything was going to be all right._

* * *

"That dream felt so real," Naruto said quietly; staring unseeingly in the darkness of his old bedroom.

Dad had been too heavily sedated to wake up on his own, but the doctor had allowed them a quick visit anyway, so they could see with their own eyes that he had survived the shooting. The first few days were still going to be touch and go, because of how close the bullet had hit a vital point, but the doctors were hopeful that dad was going to pull through this without any lingering issues. He was stable now and that was all that mattered for now.

Dawn had been approaching by the time they all piled into Sasuke's car and drove to his parents' home. There was no way Naruto was going to leave town before having talked with his dad and thankfully Sasuke had agreed with him. They would e-mail their professors in a few hours, but now they would try to catch some sleep.

Sasuke shifted behind him; his fingers idly tracing spirals around Naruto's bellybutton underneath his shirt. "Do you want to talk about it?"

The blond took a deep breath, recalling the utter terror he had experienced in that brief moment of time he'd been asleep. It hadn't _felt_ like a dream. It had felt way too real and on their way home, he'd pinched himself several more times, asking again and again whether dad was going to be okay.

After the rollercoaster that had been this short night, the realisation that his dad was going to be okay was so surreal. He was almost afraid to believe it.

"Just that – a doctor came up to us, told us that dad had died, that they couldn't do anything for him anymore." He swallowed and Sasuke tightened his grip around him. "It just felt so damn real, you know? None of my dreams have ever been like that before and I still don't dare to believe that he's really going to be okay. Because what if he isn't? What if this is just a dream again and I'm going to wake up soon in the hospital and the doctor's going to tell us he didn't make it?"

"It's not a dream," Sasuke whispered, nosing behind his ear. "You're awake, your dad made it and is going to be fine, I promise. Have I ever lied to you?"

"No, you haven't," Naruto murmured, closing his eyes.

"Your dad is going to be okay. He's strong and stubborn; I bet he's going to wake up in a few hours already," Sasuke said confidently. "Your family never seems capable of resting when you should."

A reluctant smile tugged at Naruto's lips as he recalled Sasuke's pure exasperation the one time he'd fallen seriously ill and had refused to rest at first. The dark haired man had threatened to tie him to the bed and throw out his ramen stash if he didn't get back into the bed and rest that very instant.

Needless to say, that particular threat – mainly the part about the ramen – had been convincing enough for him to get some rest.

His smile disappeared then and he turned around in the Alpha's embrace. "Are _you_ doing okay?" he asked and gnawed on his lower lip. With everything that had happened tonight, he hadn't stopped to think what being at the hospital with him would do to Sasuke after having lost his own family. It made guilt rise up that he hadn't thought of this earlier.

"I'm not the one whose dad's in the hospital," Sasuke murmured; his hand warm on Naruto's side.

"No, but maybe being there wasn't a - "

"There's nowhere else I would want to be than with you, especially tonight," Sasuke interrupted him and his fingers tightened briefly around Naruto. "I know you're worried, but don't be. I never even got the chance to worry and panic about my parents in a hospital because they were already gone by the time the police arrived. Being at the hospital tonight didn't bother me, except for the fact that I wished you hadn't been put through all that worry."

"If you're sure …"

"I'm sure. I'm fine, I promise," Sasuke said and he did sound unbothered. "Let's get some sleep before Itachi wakes up, all right? Later today we can go visit your dad."

"Okay." Sleep sounded pretty good now, actually. Even with the bit of shut eye he'd got at the hospital – although, given the nightmare he'd had, he wished he'd remained awake the whole time – his eyes felt heavy and gritty and the temptation to close them and let sleep lure him away was getting too hard to ignore.

They shared a soft kiss and fell asleep with their arms wrapped around each other and their legs tangled together.

* * *

What Sasuke had predicted, turned out to be true: when they returned to the hospital a couple of hours later, Itachi wide awake and looking around in the hospital with big eyes, dad was already wake up and even sitting up right in his bed. He looked as white as a sheet and honestly quite shit, but he still smiled brightly at them when they entered his room.

"Don't ever scare me like that again!" Mum scolded him first, looking ready to slap him before remembering that he was still recovering, and instead she kissed him fiercely; her hand seeking out his immediately.

Dad smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean. I reacted instinctively."

"Then your instincts need some tuning!" she shot back, but her eyes were soft and she caressed his hand lovingly.

It almost made Naruto feel embarrassed to watch such an intimate display, even if it was between his own parents.

"Like you wouldn't have done the same," he said and frowned for a moment before his eyes drifted over to Naruto and Sasuke, who were still lingering near the door. "Hey guys, sorry you had to come all the way here for this. I hope I didn't mess up your study schedule too much."

Naruto rolled his eyes and marched over to the older blond. "Dad, don't be stupid. You were shot, of course we were coming here as soon as possible! How are you feeling?" He adjusted Itachi in his arms when the boy reached out with one hand to his grandpa, babbling softly.

"Like I've been to hell and back," Dad answered truthfully and grimaced. "I can't recommend being shot, because it's definitely not a fun experience."

"And here I was thinking of trying it out," Naruto couldn't help but retort sarcastically and pursed his lips when Sasuke squeezed his shoulder.

"Did the doctors say how long you're supposed to stay here?" Sasuke inquired. He sat down in the one remaining chair left and pulled Naruto on his lap.

"At least a week," Dad sighed and pulled a face. "Longer if there are any complications, though I hope to god there won't be. I'm already bored out of my mind here and I've only been awake for three hours."

Naruto thought he heard Sasuke mutter something along the lines of "Definitely in the family" and elbowed him in the stomach as revenge.

"Has anyone from the precinct been here yet?" Mum asked. She was holding on to his hand with both her hands now as if she didn't dare to let go of him just yet.

"Our boss," he replied and sighed. "Said one of our colleagues would come later this afternoon to take my statement. Have they talked to you yet?"

"No, they left as soon as Naruto and Sasuke-kun arrived. Although I guess they'll show up soon to talk to me, given what I did," she added darkly.

He frowned, gazing at her concerned. "What did you do? I thought I heard other gun shots, but …"

"I shot at the bastard who hit you," she stated frankly. "He doesn't have the same luck you did, though."

"Ah." He blinked, seemed to think about it and then shrugged. "We'll deal with whatever the fall-out of this will be."

"If you need legal assistance, Kakashi will be happy to help you," Sasuke said casually. "He knows some good lawyers."

"Do I even want to know how he knows them?" Naruto frowned, turning Itachi around in his lap, so that the little boy faced his grandparents. That seemed to be what he wanted, because he giggled and smacked Naruto's hands.

"Best not to ask," Sasuke advised him and yeah, some things were probably best left unknown.

"Thanks for the offer; we'll keep it in mind," Dad smiled and then patted the bed. "Now come on, let me take a good look at my grandson! God, he's grown so much already!"

* * *

They stayed for a couple of days longer, so that Naruto could be assured that his dad would make a full recovery. He would still need to remain at the hospital until the end of the week, but his recovery was going smoother than expected, which was something Naruto could only cheer about. The quicker dad was back on his feet, the better.

He was sure mum agreed with that thought too, because the sooner dad was home, the sooner she'd allow herself to get some decent rest. When she wasn't dealing with all kinds of things related to the shooting incident, she was at the hospital with dad, staying there for as long as the nurses allowed her to be. Sympathetic though they were, even they kicked her out eventually every evening.

The last day before they returned to their apartment, he and Sasuke had their fitting at the dress shop, figuring they might as well get it done now when they were in town. Mum had pulled herself away from dad's hospital bed to accompany them and make sure that they stayed in separate sections of the shop, because "Sasuke-kun can't see your suit yet before the wedding!"

Naruto thought that was bullshit, considering they both would be wearing suits and it wasn't like Sasuke didn't know how he looked like anyway, so he couldn't be scared off by the sight of his face on their wedding day. Instead of protesting the silly rule, he acquiesced to it, deciding the silliness of the whole situation was worth seeing his mum so animated again after several days of her resembling a zombie. After all the worrying she was doing about his dad and the stress at work of having to talk to several people about the shooting time and time again, she deserved to have a carefree afternoon of watching her son trying on different suits for his upcoming wedding.

Itachi himself didn't escape the suit mania either and mum was still debating whether to dress him in a little suit of his own or something else entirely by the time they finally left the shop. When she departed for her work half an hour later, she was definitely in higher spirits.

That sight made all the uncomfortable prodding he'd had to endure in the shop more than worth it.

They left on Tuesday evening with the promise to come back during the weekend, so they could both celebrate his birthday and dad's return from the hospital.

"Mum said it looks like they're going to rule it a justifiable shooting and leave it at that," Naruto said, turning his head to check on Itachi in the backseat. He was sleeping peacefully, dressed comfortably in a jacket and a woollen hat covering his head. "It's still too soon to be completely sure, but they have several witnesses stating mum reacted out of self-defence, so there isn't much they can do."

"I'm glad to hear that. The last thing they need after all this is stress about a possible charge," Sasuke said, turning right once the light blinked green.

Naruto hummed in agreement and turned to face the front again. "I'm just going to be clear about it: don't _ever_ do what my dad did for my mum. I'm not sure whether I could handle all that waiting as well as she could if you're the one on an operating table."

He didn't look at Sasuke when he said that and just stared out of the window. Seeing dad lying so helplessly in a hospital bed had hit home harder than he liked to admit. It had made him wonder how he would react if Sasuke had jumped in front of him to catch a bullet and the thing was – _Sasuke would do it_.

No if's or but's about it – he knew with absolute certainty that if they were ever in a horrible situation like that, Sasuke would not hesitate to jump in front of him and catch the bullet instead. That was just how he was. Protective to a fault.

Naruto wouldn't be able to deal with that. Mum had already been teetering on the edge of losing it during the first night, but she had still kept it remarkably well together – he didn't think he would be the same if he was forced to wait for news about Sasuke.

That was why he needed to say what he just had: he couldn't bear the thought of losing Sasuke. He'd lose his mind for sure. He didn't care if other people would think it was the ultimate sign of love, sacrificing yourself for your mate – what good was that when you lost the love of your life in the process? There was nothing romantic about your mate sacrificing himself for you; it only led to grief and heartbreak.

Sasuke grabbed his hand and lifted it to his lips for a kiss. "You're stronger than you think," he offered.

It didn't escape Naruto's notice that that wasn't a promise not to do the same thing his dad had done. He chose not to say anything and instead twisted his hand around to tangle their fingers together, resting them on his thigh; at least until Sasuke needed both hands to steer the car.

He would never get a promise like that from Sasuke, he knew. That would go against everything that made up him.

All he could do was hope they would never be in a terrible situation like that to begin with.

* * *

When his heat hit a little while later, they took up Deidara on his offer and dropped Itachi off at his place. Naruto had already given all the instructions he thought Deidara would need the day before, knowing that his heat would mess with his mind and perhaps make him forget some crucial instructions.

As soon as they were sure Itachi was in safe hands, they sped back to their apartment and barricaded themselves in it. Sasuke barely had time to lock the door before Naruto jumped him and they ended up fucking against the wall there for the first time, both too impatient and too eager to search out the bedroom or even the couch.

When the need struck, it struck – that was all Naruto could say about it.

* * *

"I've got something for you," Sasuke mumbled a little while later.

They'd managed to pull themselves away from the corridor earlier on and had stumbled into the bedroom, taking advantage of the short reprieve to stock up on some water bottles and snacks in the room. Given how needy Naruto was feeling, he doubted they'd leave the bed any time soon – at least not if he had any say about it and luckily for him he had a mate who was very willing to do whatever he wanted.

Man, he seriously had lucked out with having this Alpha as his mate.

"Oh yeah? What?" Naruto asked curiously and sat up, his breath hitching when that made him settle himself more firmly on Sasuke's cock. His own twitched and he bit down on his lip, barely restraining himself from rocking back and forth. Another heat wave would soon sweep over him, he knew, recognising the tell-tale signs after so many years, but for now his curiosity was just a tad bigger, allowing him to keep a clear head for now at least.

Sasuke's eyes darkened when the Omega's muscles unintentionally squeezed around his prick, but he shook his head as if to throw off a daze and twisted around to open the drawer of the nightstand on his side.

"Here," he said and held up some kind of necklace.

Curiosity definitely piqued now, Naruto accepted the necklace and studied it carefully. The pendant hanging from it was some kind of small fan with the upper half coloured a deep red and the lower half white. It was kind of pretty actually in its simplicity, but it was also a curious thing to give and he looked up questioningly.

"I don't think I've ever told you this, but the Uchiha name is a very old one," Sasuke started, his gaze fixated on the pendant. "It goes back to a time when there were still clans and aristocracy, so it's a pretty old one."

"Are you going to tell me you're descended from royalty?" Naruto half joked, half asked seriously.

"I don't know about royalty," Sasuke said dryly, gripping the pendant between his thumb and index finger. "An uncle of mine was still tracing our roots the last time I spoke to him, but whatever we were, we were considered high ranked enough to have our own clan's symbol. Our clan's symbol is a red and white fan; this one." He tapped the pendant.

"I always thought you were someone special," Naruto said, smiling, and tilted his head to the right. "You're given the necklace to me? Why?"

The pendant was clearly important to Sasuke; it was hard to miss the way he tenderly grasped it as if a firmer grip would potentially damage it. Considering the link to his family's history, it'd made sense if he started wearing it. So why give it to him instead?

"Because you're part of my family now," Sasuke murmured and hesitated then. "That is if you want to carry my name once we're married." There was uncertainty lurking in the depths of his eyes as if after all the times Naruto had proclaimed he'd be wearing the Uchiha name in the future he still thought it was just said in jest.

Clasping one hand around Sasuke's neck, Naruto smiled and kissed him. "I'd be honoured to take on your name. Put the necklace on me?"

Sasuke's face positively lit up and his hands were almost reverent when they carefully locked the necklace around the blond's neck, his finger trailing down the black cord until it caressed the pendant, which fell right in the hollow between Naruto's collarbones.

"It looks good on you," Sasuke commented, his voice rough and his eyes almost glowing.

Naruto studied him and a smirk slowly unfurled across his lips when he realised something. "You like me wearing your clan's symbol, hm?" he crooned and looped his arms around Sasuke's neck, running his hands through the black tresses. "You like the thought of me wearing something that belongs to you."

"Naruto," Sasuke said warningly, but his hands tightened around Naruto's hips and his breathing was speeding up slightly.

"You like it when I wear something that shows I belong to you only," Naruto continued, heedless of the dangerous glint growing in black eyes. He started rocking back and forth, soft whines spilling forth from his lips when each motion forwards had the Alpha brushing against the sensitive spot deep within. "That shows everyone that I'm your Omega and you're my Alpha. You _love_ that soon I'll be called Uchiha officially, don't you?"

Sasuke didn't say anything to dispute that.

"I bet that's why you loved seeing me pregnant, hm?" Naruto continued, a bit breathless; his eyes hooded as he gazed at Sasuke. "Me carrying your baby, showing the whole world that you fucked your Omega so well you got me pregnant at the first try. Not many Alpha can do that, but you can. Do you want to knock me up again? You want me carrying your baby again? See me all swollen with - "

His breath left him in a rush when he was suddenly shoved backwards and a strangled moan escaped him when Sasuke started to fuck him with wild abandon; his eyes burning bright and wild as he gripped Naruto's chin and started kissing him fiercely, no doubt bruising both their mouths in the process. His hips battered against the Omega's arse, and his other hand grasped both of the blond's wrists in his hold, pressing them deeply into the mattress above Naruto's head, ensuring he couldn't do much but wiggle a bit.

Naruto couldn't do much but lay there and take what his Alpha was giving him; something he absolutely had no trouble doing at all, because he was a good Omega, a good mate for his Alpha and only _he_ could drive his Alpha this wild.

He was the only one who would ever see Sasuke like this and that knowledge settled deep within, making him howl when the next forceful thrust sent him straight over the edge; his back arching when he came almost violently.

Sasuke was muttering something in his skin when he came to again and then the Alpha was coming in him, spilling deep within him, and Naruto sighed, running his hands through sweaty, black locks, feeling settled.

For now at least.

His heat was long from over yet, it only being the first day, but for now he was content to lay there, Sasuke's body covering his, and the pendant warm against his skin.

 _Uchiha Naruto_ … Yeah, he quite liked the ring of that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN2: The last scene was something I came up with a few days ago and I couldn't resist adding it, which means that Adjusting will have at least one more part after this - because what else is new? *coughs* 
> 
> I hope you liked it; please leave your thoughts behind in a review. Should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
> 
> I hope to see you all back in the next part!
> 
> Cuddles
> 
> Melissa

**Author's Note:**

> AN2: I did not mean for the first chapter to become this long, but the story wants what it wants, I guess. *throws hands up* I don't know, I'm just a victim to my muse.
> 
> Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me. I hope to see you all back in the next chapter :)
> 
> Cuddles
> 
> Melissa


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